Warriors of Aura
by Th3nerdy0ne
Summary: Ash has faced many enemies on his travels, but none compare to the enemy he must face now. Now, Ash must learn to use his Aura powers properly if he has any hope of stopping this new evil. And he won't be alone as he teams up with a group of Aura users to help save the world from complete annihilation.
1. Prologue

**Hello ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the beginning of my new story. I had this Idea since I first started posting stories onto the site but I never got around to writing it. Now I'm getting around to writing it. Any who, I hope you enjoy the prologue and I'll see you guys at the end.**

**Disclaimer: **Hold on a sec, I think... No. Still don't own Pokémon.

**On with the story:**

**Warriors of Aura**

**By**

**Th3nerdy0ne**

* * *

**Chapter one**

Prologue

* * *

A young man, no older than 16, looked on in horror as his home town was burning. People were running and screaming from the chaos as their homes burned to the ground leaving nothing but black ash. Some people tried to put out the fires using their water Pokémon but to no avail. The fires were just too strong and too large. As the young man watched on, he caught the sight of a familiar woman with long brown hair tied in a ponytail running with a familiar looking Psychic-type Pokémon. They both had a look of terror on their faces.

The young man tried calling to them, but no sound would exit his mouth. He tried running to them but his legs would not move. He could do nothing more but watch. Suddenly an explosion came from a very familiar lab on a hill top. A figure emerged from the now destroyed lab, a black aura surrounding it, and began floating towards the crowd of terrified town's people. More specifically, a certain woman. The young man could do nothing but watch as the figure got closer and closer to its target, a black ball of energy appearing in its right hand.

As the figure got closer and closer, the light from the fire began to illuminate its features. The young man drew in a sharp breath as he stared at the familiar face of his home's attacker. There, floating closer to the woman, was himself. The young man continued to watch in horror as the woman tried to defend herself only to fail as the doppelganger threw his black sphere at her, causing a large explosion. The young man screamed out for the woman as tears began to fill his brown eyes.

"MOM!" He screamed. Sound finally exiting his mouth.

Hearing the scream, the doppelganger turned his attention to the young man and began to advance on him. The young man tried to move but his legs still wouldn't listen. The doppelganger stopped a few inches in front of the young man. A look of pure evil came into his eyes as he smiled maliciously at him. He took a few more steps closer and whispered into the young man's ear.

"This is the future that awaits you." He said.

Though the voice was the same as the young man's voice, he could feel a sense of something else in it. A sense of complete evil. He didn't have time to think on this any further as the doppelganger made another black sphere appear in his right hand and pressed it towards the young man's chest. Before he could react, the sphere exploded in his chest with a large flash of light.

* * *

"Ah!"

Ash Ketchum looked at his surroundings as he awoke from a dreadful nightmare. He found himself in his bed at his home in Pallet Town. His breathing was very heavy and he was covered in a cold sweat. After a few minutes of deep breathing to calm himself, he got out of bed and headed towards the bathroom. Once there, he turned on the cold tap and began throwing water on his face to cool himself. He reached for a face towel and began drying himself off. Once he removed the towel he looked back up into the mirror, only to be met with the sight of his doppelganger standing right behind him.

"Boo." He said.

Ash woke up for real this time and found himself lying in his sleeping bag in the middle of a forest. Looking around, he could see two other sleeping bags which belonged to his friends and traveling companions, Brock Harrison and Dawn Hikari. Looking down, Ash could see the yellow fur of his best friend, Pikachu, sleeping soundly on the pillow of the sleeping bag. Sighing, Ash lay back down and took a few deep breaths to calm himself.

_'What the hell was that?' _He thought to himself.

* * *

**That was the prologue, ladies and gentlemen. I hope you liked it. Please leave a review letting me know what you thought, constructive criticism is always welcome.**

**I'll get to work on chapter two as soon as I can and have it up when it's finished and perfect.**

**Until then, live long and prosper and may the force be with you.**


	2. A Letter and an Important Meeting

**Chapter two is here, ladies and gentlemen. Enjoy and I'll see you at the end.**

**Disclaimer: **We interrupt your story for an important news bulletin. Th3nerdy0ne has just announced that he does not own Pokémon. Oh what will this mean for our intrepid writer? Apparently nothing.

**On with the story:**

* * *

**Chapter Two**

A Letter and an Important Meeting

* * *

It was an unusually quiet day in the Cerulean City Gym. Very few trainers had shown up to challenge the leader, the Pokémon were all relaxing, even the Sensational Sisters were uncharacteristically quiet (though whether that was a bad thing or not was up for debate). And at the forefront of all this silence and boredom was none other than Misty Waterflower. A strong water-type specialist and leader of the Cerulean City Gym.

She was currently in the pool of the gym doing her daily routine of exercising with the Pokémon. She had just started her fifth lap around the pool with Dewgong when the bell for the gym's front doors went off. Sighing, Misty swam towards the ladder on the right side of the pool and climbed out. She picked up her ocean blue towel from the bleachers, gave her hair a quick drying, threw the towel around her shoulders, and proceeded towards the front doors.

As Misty entered the reception room/lounge, she was greeted with the sight of her eldest sister, Daisy, lying on the couch with a magazine in her hands and a look on her face that was a mix of both boredom and tiredness. Misty walked over to the couch, put her hands on her hips, and gave her all too famous 'Glare of Death' as her sisters called it. Sensing that someone was now watching her thanks to the chill that had just ran down her spine, Daisy looked away from her magazine and was met with a pair of angry looking emerald eyes.

"Hey, baby sis. What's up?" Daisy asked cautiously.

Misty just continued to glare at her for a minute before finally answering.

"How long have you been here?" She asked. Annoyance very evident in her tone.

"Since 1:00." Daisy replied. Not really understanding why Misty was asking this.

"Did you hear the doorbell?" Misty asked. Her glare never faltering.

"Yeah." Daisy replied slowly.

"And why didn't you answer it?" Misty asked.

"It's too far. And I'm tired." Daisy whined.

"In other words you're too lazy to answer it yourself." Misty said. a vain clearly visible on her temple.

"Pretty much." Daisy nodded in agreement. Knowing it would get a rise out of her younger sibling.

Misty took several deep breaths before turning and heading towards the front door. As much as she loved her sisters, there were times when it just became too hard not to give them a light smack on the back of their heads. So to avoid physically harming her irritating family members, she just walked away to the task at hand. If it was a trainer asking for a challenge she didn't want to keep them waiting any longer because of her older sibling's lazy nature.

When she finally reached the front entrance, she pressed a button on the right hand side of the doors allowing them to open. As she stepped out of the gym, ready to apologise for keeping who ever it was waiting so long, she was met with nothing but an empty pathway leading to her gym. Confused, Misty took a few more steps outside and looked around the area. There were no signs that anyone had been there. Not even a retreating figure in the distance.

Shrugging it off, the red-head turned back and headed towards the gym doors. As she was about to enter, she felt her foot step on something that felt like thick paper. Looking down, Misty was met with the sight of a small envelope with her name on it. Picking it up, she entered the gym and walked back into the reception room/lounge where Daisy was still laying on the couch, her magazine open once again. Hearing her sister re-enter the room, Daisy turned her attention to her younger sibling and noticed the envelope.

"Oh, is that for any of us?" She asked with a little excitement in her voice as she probably thought it was fan mail from someone.

"I found it on the ground outside the door. It's addressed to me." Misty replied.

Though Daisy looked a little disappointed that it wasn't for her, she still stood up and walked over to Misty who proceeded to open the letter and begin reading what was written on it out loud.

_'Dear, Ms. Waterflower._

_I am writing to request that you meet me at the Cerulean Café in the square at 3:30. When you arrive, sit at the table in the right hand corner outside. Come alone._

_A friend.'_

When Misty finished reading out the letter, both her and Daisy had perplexed looks on their faces. Neither said anything for a minute or two before Misty checked her watch and headed to her room. Daisy snapped back to reality after noticing that her younger sister was no longer next to her and followed her upstairs. As they entered Misty's room, the red-head threw her towel onto her bed, took some clean clothes out of her wardrobe and headed for the bathroom.

"You're not actually going, are you?" Daisy asked incredulously.

"Yes, Daisy. I am." Misty replied as she entered the bathroom and closed the door.

"But what if it's some sick pervert? You have no idea who this person is or what they want. What if this person tries to hurt you? Or kidnap you?"

"I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself. You know that."

"Still. I'd feel much better if I went along."

"The letter said come alone."

"I don't care. If it looks like my little sister is in any kind of danger I have to be there." Daisy protested. Crossing her arms in an 'I'm going to be stubborn about this until you agree to let me do what I want' kind of way.

Misty knew there was no way to win this argument. Once Daisy had her mind set she wouldn't relent until she got what she wanted. Sighing heavily, Misty opened the bathroom door with an exasperated look on her face and came out wearing a yellow long sleeved t-shirt, tight denim jeans that went a few inches past her knees with a red belt around the waist, and a pair of red trainers.

She was instantly met with a glare from her older sister as she exited the bathroom. It wasn't the same kind of glare that Misty had given her earlier, but it was close enough that anyone else would assume it ran in the family. They glared at each other for about two minutes before Misty threw her arms up exasperatedly.

"Fine, let's go." Misty finally relented and was met with a sickeningly delighted grin from Daisy.

"I'll get my car keys." Daisy said as she ran out of Misty's room and back down stairs.

Misty just sighed and followed along.

"Something tells me it's gonna be a _long_ day." She said to herself.

* * *

**Cerulean Square**

The center of Cerulean City was filled to the brim with shoppers and tourists. Families could be seen enjoying both the sun and the magnificent buildings and statues around the area, Restaurants were obviously doing very well today thanks to the crowds and hot weather, and in a small café, sitting at a table outside, was Misty. She had arrived earlier than planned, thanks in great part to Daisy's lack of obeying the laws of the road, and found herself sitting at the table mentioned in the letter for the past twenty minutes now.

Misty had asked Daisy to stay in the car which was parked in a car park around the corner from where she was, much to the older siblings dismay and constant protests. Still, she had relented and agreed to wait in the car until she returned. Now, here Misty was. Awaiting the arrival of the mysterious _friend _that had sent the letter. She checked the time on her watch for the fifth time in a row. 3:30 on the dot. She looked up from her watch and looked out to the large crowd of people, trying to see if she could find anyone suspicious looking.

"I can assure you, Ms. Waterflower, if you are looking for someone suspicious, you're going about it the wrong way." Came an accented voice from behind.

The startled red-head jumped in her seat and turned to be met with the sight of a man, possibly in his mid fifties, with short brown hair that was grey in some areas, and dark brown eyes. He was wearing a light brown blazer that was buttoned up, a white shirt underneath, dark blue jeans, black shoes, and a black tie around his neck. He was also holding what looked to be a walking stick with a crystal sphere on top with what appeared to be a blue flame inside of it made of what looked like sapphire. The man walked past the startled teen and took a seat across from her.

"Especially if you're looking for someone from an organisation that specializes in being invisible and blending with a crowd." He continued as he raised a hand to signal for a waiter.

"And what organisation is that?" Misty asked as she eyed the man suspiciously.

"All in good time, my dear. First, I think we should place our orders. There's no point in coming to a highly respected café and not order something. Don't you agree?" The man said as a waiter approached their table.

"Hello, and welcome to the Cerulean Café. Are you ready to order?" The waiter asked in a polite manner.

"Yes, my boy. I would like some Earl Grey Tea, please. And what would you like, Ms. Waterflower?"

"Just regular tea with milk and two sugars, thanks." Misty replied, not taking her eyes off of the man.

As the waiter walked off to get the orders, Misty just continued to stare at the man while he took out a pocket watch, looked at the time, and placed it back in his pocket. He then turned his attention to the red-head and smiled warmly. This smile actually managed to give Misty some comfort as it looked sincere however, she still remained weary of him. After another minute or two of uncomfortable silence, the waiter returned with their teas and the two proceeded to take small sips from them.

"Ah. I've always loved how they do the tea here. Nothing like how they make it in my place of birth, but enjoyable nevertheless." Said the man as he took another sip from his tea.

"Are you going to get to the point of who you are and why you asked me here, or will I just leave?" Misty asked, getting rather irritated by what was happening.

"Certainly, my dear." The man said as he placed his tea on the table and folded his arms on the table to lean forward slightly. he then reached into the inside pocket of his blazer and pulled out what appeared to be a badge with a blue flame similar to the one on his walking stick, and his name next to the word Commander on it.

"My name is Simon Lecter. I'm the head of an organisation that works as a sort of, special police force." The man introduced

"Like a S.W.A.T. team?" Misty asked as she studied the ID.

"A little more special than that. The people that work for me have special kinds of skills that would be wasted with a regular police force. So we have our own privately funded organisation that we call, Serenity." Lecter explained.

"So why did you ask me to come here, Mr. Lecter?" Misty asked as she relaxed a bit, though still keeping her guard up.

"Tell me, are you familiar with Aura Ms. Waterflower?"

Misty nodded in response. About a year ago Ash had told her all about what happened with Lucario and the Tree of Beginning, and explained a little bit about Aura to her. She was amazed, to say the least. She had sometimes imagined what it would be like to have that ability after hearing about it and had, on several occasions, gone to the local library to find more information about it. Sadly, there weren't that many books on the subject. Mostly myths and legends. Misty was brought out of her brief thoughts by the voice of Lecter as he continued to explain why he asked to meet her.

"Well you see, it has come to our attention that you know a descendant of an Aura Guardian. Ash Ketchum, is it?"

Misty nodded.

"Well, we have reasons to believe that Mr. Ketchum is in danger." Lecter explained.

Misty took in a sharp breath and her eyes widened at hearing this.

"What?! Why?!" Misty nearly yelled.

"Calm down, Ms. Waterflower. Let me explain." Lecter said calmly. Not at all fazed by the raise of tone in the young teen's voice.

Misty took a few deep breaths before finally relaxing enough that she was able to continue listening.

"As I was saying, we have reason to believe that Mr. Ketchum is a possible target for a rival faction called Specter."

"What do you mean by faction?" Misty asked.

Lecter looked hesitant for a moment. He was contemplating whether he should tell her or not. It would mean breaking several regulations. However, given the current situation, he didn't really have much of a choice given the little time they have. Finally making a decision, he explained.

"Well, both my organisation and Specter have been more or less at war with each other for centuries. And we've done a remarkable job of keeping it a secret from the rest of the world so I would appreciate it if you never spoke of this to anyone else. Understood?"

Misty nodded in understanding. Lecter continued.

"Now, Serenity has made a commitment to keeping the world safe from any and all threats. And Specter is a big one. Team Rocket are boy scouts compared to them. They want nothing short of complete control of the entire world and will terminate anyone who gets in their way or is considered a threat."

"And what? They think Ash is a threat?" Misty asked incredulously.

"Well, he is a descendant of a powerful Aura Guardian, has the ability to use Aura, and has done his fair share of world saving. Wouldn't you agree?"

Misty couldn't help but nod in agreement at that. Ash was the type of person that would jump head first into danger if it meant saving others. Hell, she was there for most of them and had to suffer several mini-heart attacks when it looked like he had died during these occasions. And now it was happening again. Ash had somehow managed to unintentionally tick off a dangerous organisation and now they were out to get him because of both his nature and his heritage. If he was here right now, Misty would've smacked him upside the head with her mallet for being... Ash. She knew it was the type of person he was. Hell, that was one of the reasons she lo... anyway, she couldn't fault him for being him. But she could certainly give him an ass kicking for it.

"So why call me? Why not go see Ash directly?" She asked.

"We don't know where he is. We are aware that he's in the Sinnoh Region, we just don't know what part. But Specter does." Lecter said.

Misty's eyes once again widened in shock.

"We don't know how, but they've managed to locate him. And they're most likely going to send someone to kill him." Lecter explained.

"Why should I believe you? Why should I believe any of this? How do I know you're not with these guys and your just tricking me to get closer to Ash?" Misty asked with a glare.

Lecter just shrugged. "You don't. And I don't have any other proof aside from my ID which for all you know could be forged. All I can offer you is my word that I'm telling the truth."

Misty thought on this for quite a while before finally coming to a conclusion. She didn't trust this man completely, but if Ash was in any possible danger she'd have take the chance.

"So what do we do?" Misty asked with a serious tone in her voice and look in her eyes.

"You have a Pokégear, do you not?" Lecter inquired.

Misty looked confused for a moment before realising what the older man was getting at. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her Pokégear and began searching through her contacts for the number she was looking for. After a minute, Misty finally came to Ash's number. She had gotten him a Pokégear for Christmas a year ago and it's been their main way of keeping in contact ever since he left for Sinnoh. She looked at the number for a few moments before finally pressing the call button. As it rang she looked up at Lecter.

"What should I tell him?" Misty asked.

"Tell him that you need an extra pair of hands to help you out at the gym." Lecter said.

"Why can't I just warn him about the possible attack? That would be a smarter thing to do, wouldn't it?"

Lecter shook his head.

"Even if you warn him it won't make a difference. These people are trained killers. He'd have a snowballs chance in hell."

Though Misty didn't like hearing that at all, she nodded in understanding. She waited for a few more moments as the phone rang before the sound of someone answering could finally be heard.

_"Hey, Mist. What's up?" _Came the happy voice of the raven-haired trainer.

Misty took a deep breath to calm herself so Ash wouldn't think something was wrong.

"Hey, Ash. I was wondering, is there anyway you could come to the gym for a while? Things have gotten pretty busy down here and I need some extra help. If this isn't a good time I understand, it's just-" Before Misty could continue, she was cut off by the cheerful voice of the young man on the other end of the phone.

_"Sure. I don't mind coming down and giving you a hand. Me and Pikachu need a brake from training anyway. We just arrived at Sunnyshore a few minutes ago, so I can get a Ferry ticket and be down there in two days. Sound good?"_

"Two days sounds perfect. I'll see you then." Misty said as she smiled. She hung up after that and turned her attention back to Lecter.

"He'll be here in two days?" He asked.

Misty nodded. Lecter smiled.

"Perfect. When he arrives I'll see to it that my best agents are assigned to watch over you both. And if any Specter operatives show up, they'll take care of them." He said.

"I'd feel better if there wasn't anyone after him at all." Misty said with worry evident in her voice.

"Don't worry about it, Ms. Waterflower. We'll make sure nothing happens to either of you." Lecter assured with a smile.

After that, the two went their separate ways. But not before Misty grabbed the older man by the wrist and gave her 'Glare of Death' to him.

"If I find out that you've lied to me, and Ash is hurt in anyway, I'll make sure you regret it." She threatened.

"Don't you trust me?"

"About as far as I can throw you." Misty said simply.

Lecter just smiled. "I assure you, Ms. Waterflower, I am telling the truth. I promise that no harm will befall you or Mr. Ketchum."

With that, Lecter disappeared into the large crowd and Misty headed towards the car park where Daisy was. During the drive back to the gym, Daisy had bombarded Misty with questions about who it was she met and what it was they were talking about. Misty just told her that it was private and that Ash was coming in two days and left it at that. Though Daisy wanted to press on the matter, an angry glare from Misty shut her up and both sisters were silent for the remainder of the drive back to the gym.

* * *

**That was chapter two, ladies and gentlemen. What did you think? Good? Bad? Leave a review and let me know.**

**I'll be getting off college for the Easter brake soon so hopefully I'll be able to update faster. I'll get to work on chapter three as soon as possible and have it out when it's good and ready.**

**Until then, live long and prosper and may the force be with you.**


	3. Home Again

**HOLY CRAP THEY'RE REMAKING RUBY AND SAPPHIRE! FINALLY!**

**And now that I have that out of my system. Hurray! Chapter Three is here, ladies and gentlemen! Sorry for the wait. I hope you enjoy it and I'll see you at the end for an important thing you need to know. Well it might be important but then again it might not. It really depends on how you look at it.**

**Any who,**

**Disclaimer: **What has two thumbs, and doesn't own Pokémon? This guy (Points both thumbs at myself)!

**On with the story:**

* * *

**Chapter Three**

Home Again

* * *

Ash stood at the front of the ferry with a smile as he watched the sunrise illuminate his hometown in a flurry of oranges, pinks, and golds. It had been five months since he was last here and he'd be lying if said he didn't feel a little homesick from all the traveling. Pikachu was at his usual perch on Ash's shoulder and had the same look that Ash had on his face. A look of joy at returning home. Ash turned to his partner and best friend and gave him a scratch behind the ear to which the yellow mouse gave an appreciative 'Cha.'

"Happy to be home, you two?" Came a voice from behind.

Ash turned around to be greeted by the smiling face of his newest traveling companion and friend, Dawn Hikari.

"Hell yeah!" Ash exclaimed with a grin.

"Pika!" Pikachu said with the same grin as his trainer.

When Ash told both Brock and Dawn of the call he had received from Misty yesterday afternoon asking for him to come to Cerulean to help around the gym, and that he would be leaving on the last ferry that evening, Dawn practically begged him to let her come for two reasons.

1: She wanted to see what Kanto was like.

And

2: She really wanted to meet Misty. Mostly because Ash never stopped talking about her whenever he told Dawn about his old adventures.

Ash agreed wholeheartedly, not wanting to deny Dawn the chance to visit a new region.

He couldn't help but smile when he saw her face light up like a child's on Christmas, she kind of reminded him of himself when he had gone to Johto for the first time when he was younger. The excitement in the eyes upon seeing new Pokémon, meeting new people and visiting new cities, the adrenalin rush that comes with having your first battle, or in Dawn's case, contest in said new region, and making new friends. For Ash, the look of happiness on Dawn's face was priceless. He never really liked seeing her upset or depressed, and had always felt very protective of the young bluenette as if she was his own kid sister. So seeing her this happy and this excited was always nice.

Brock, on the other hand, had decided to stay in Sinnoh for a little while longer to brush up on his knowledge of the Pokémon in that region to further his training in his goal to become a breeder. Both Ash and Dawn were a little saddened by this but Brock had told them not to worry and that he'd join them after a week or two. This, of course, had brightened the two younger trainers up. It was also funny to see Brock get slapped by a young woman that he had tried, and failed, to flirt with at the Sunyshore Docks the day they left.

Dawn stood next to Ash on the ferry and looked on towards the new region that awaited her. The bluenette's heart was beating a million miles a second at the mere thought of setting foot in a new place. She had never been to another region before so she was, admittedly, quite nervous about the whole thing. She turned her attention back to the older trainer to her left and wondered if he had gone through the same thing when he had first left Kanto to continue his Pokémon journey.

"Nervous?"

Ash's voice brought the coordinator in training out of her thoughts. She shook her head slightly and then looked towards her friend only to be met with the sight of the older boy and Pikachu looking at her with knowing smiles.

"A little. Wasn't it the same for you the first time as well?" Dawn asked.

"Absolutely. When I left Kanto for the Hoenn Region, I was terrified." Ash said.

"Hoenn? But hadn't you been to Johto and the Orange Islands before that?" Dawn asked with a confused look on her face.

"True. But Hoenn was different."

"How come?"

"It was the first time I was going to a new region with just me and Pikachu. I didn't know what I'd do, where I'd go, what I'd expect. At least with Johto and the Orange Islands I had Misty, Brock, and Tracey traveling with me." Ash explained.

"Oh, I get it now. Well in that case I'm glad that you're here with me. I'd be an even bigger nervous wreck than I already am." Dawn said with a smile. Ash chuckled at that and gave the bluenette a friendly pat on the head.

"You'll love Kanto Dawn, it's a great place. And my mom'll be happy to meet you." Ash said with a wide smile.

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed as he jumped on to Dawn's shoulder. The bluenette giggled and scratched behind the yellow mouse's ear which Pikachu was very happy to receive.

"_ATTENTION, PLEASE!_" Came a voice from the ship's intercom. "_We will be arriving at the Pallet Town Docks shortly. Please gather your belongings and prepare to disembark._"

"Well, time to go" Ash said as he made his way towards his cabin to get his things.

"Do you wanna help me pack up my things, Pikachu?" Dawn asked the yellow mouse on her shoulder.

"Chu." Pikachu agreed happily.

Dawn giggled softly, scratched Pikachu behind his ear again, and then the two made their way towards Dawn's cabin.

* * *

"Mimey, could you go up to the attic and see if I left the vacuum up there?" Called a woman in her mid-thirties from a kitchen.

"Mr. Mime!" Came the voice of a psychic type from the living room next door.

"Thank you!"

Delia Ketchum had quite the busy day ahead of her. She had to help Professor Oak take care of some newly hatched Squirtle, she needed to tend to some recently blooming Azaleas in the large flower bed in the back yard, and her and Mimey had a lot of Spring Cleaning to do around the house. All in all it was going to be a busy day indeed. She yawned loudly as she prepared breakfast for herself and Mimey.

"Mr. Mime!" Mimey said happily as he held the vacuum for Delia to see.

"Well done Mimey." Delia exclaimed happily.

"Mime."

The human and Pokémon were taken out of their conversation by a loud knock on the front door. With a curious look on her face, Delia left the kitchen and headed towards the front door. Opening it, she was greeted with the site of a young blue haired girl wearing a bandanna with a shy smile on her face, and standing next to her was a familiar looking raven haired teen with a toothy grin and a Pikachu on his shoulder.

"Hey mo-"

"ASHY, YOU'RE HOME!" Delia yelled as she grabbed Ash into a very strong bear hug.

"Missed... You... Too... Air..." Ash struggled to say.

Delia, completely oblivious to her sons lack of oxygen, let her Ashy go resulting in him falling to the ground with a comical thud, and walked over to greet the young bluenette who by now was trying to stifle her laughter. Delia held out her hand and Dawn accepted, shaking the older woman's hand. The two had actually met before, however it was over a videophone, but that didn't stop the two from always engaging into conversations involving clothes and baking techniques for Dawn's poffins. Needless to say, the two became fast friends.

"It's nice to finally meet you in person, Dawn." Delia said with a warm smile.

"You too, Mrs. Ketchum." Dawn said with a smile of her own.

"Please, come in. This is a really pleasant surpri- Ash, what are you doing on the ground?"

"Admiring the dirt." Ash said as he got up and dusted himself off. Pikachu stood behind him, doing his very best to hide his laughter.

"Please, make yourselves at home." Delia said as she entered the house followed closely by Ash and Dawn.

Once Ash stepped through the front door of his home he was instantly greeted by a smiling Mimey who had come out from the kitchen to see what was going on.

"Mime Mime!" Mimey greeted happily.

"It's great to see you too, Mimey." Ash said as he patted Mimey on the head.

Pikachu ran up to Mimey and the two began to converse with each other about various things. Once she closed the front door, Delia took a seat on the sofa in the living room and offered Dawn to sit next to her while Ash sat in the armchair across from them.

"So what brings you two to Kanto? Ash, the last time we spoke you said you were on your way to Sunnyshore for your next gym battle. And where's Brock?" Delia asked.

"Well, I got a call from Misty yesterday asking for some help at the gym. So I said I'd come down and help her out for the next while." Ash began to explain.

"And I've never been to another region before so I asked Ash if I could tag along." Dawn added.

"And Brock decided to stay behind to do more 'research' on the 'Pokémon' in Sinnoh." Ash finished. Adding air quotes to the words research and Pokémon, causing Dawn to laugh slightly.

"I see. Well you're both more than welcome to spend the night here, and then in the morning I can take you up to Cerulean." Delia said with a bright smile.

"Thanks mom. That'd be great." Ash said.

"It's settled then. Dawn, I'll prepare the guest room for you after lunch. And if you'd like, you can let your Pokémon out in the backyard so they can get some fresh country air into them." Delia said.

"Thanks Mrs. K. I think they'll like that."

Delia gave the young bluenette a warm smile.

"In the meantime, Ashy? Could you go help Mimey with cleaning around the house?"

"Sure thing." Ash said as he stood up and followed Mimey out of the room. Pikachu not far behind.

Delia then turned to address Dawn.

"And Dawn, would you like to help me tend to the flowers in the front yard?" She asked.

"I'd love to." Dawn beamed with a bright smile.

And so, while Dawn was helping Delia with the flowers in the front yard, Ash got to work on cleaning the house along with Pikachu and Mimey. It was decided that Mimey would take the downstairs while Ash and Pikachu handled the upstairs. Ash started with the stairs themselves. Grabbing the second vacuum from the attic, he started from the bottom and worked his way up. Pikachu had fun cleaning the banister of the stairs by running to the very top of the them and sliding down it on a cloth Ash had given him whilst spraying the cleaning spray on it as he went down. After that was over and done with, Ash and Pikachu proceeded to clean the bedrooms and bathroom. By the time Ash had reached the final room, his room, a wave of nostalgia instantly entered his mind as he set foot in his room for the first time in months.

The walls were completely covered in Pokémon related poster that varied from movies, Elite Four members, Pokémon League posters, to simple Pokémon themselves. On the few shelves that occupied the room were various action figures of Pokémon, trainers, and even the Dragon Master himself, Lance. There was a bookshelf next to his bed filled to the brim with magazines and novels, all Pokémon related. Ash then directed his attention to the wardrobe to his left and opened it up. A smile instantly grew on his face at its contents. Inside the wardrobe hung his two old travelling clothes. On one hanger was the jacket, shirt, and trousers he had worn while travelling through Kanto, the Orange Islands, and Johto. Next to that was the clothes he wore during his travels through the Hoenn region. The hats he had worn on those travels were each placed under their respective attire.

Ash's smile grew wider as he bent down and picked up the hat he had worn when he started his journey. Not wasting a single moment, he removed his current hat, threw it onto his bed, and placed his old one on his head. On a desk to Ash's right, Pikachu watched on with a smile of his own as he watched his friend place his old hat atop his head.

"Whatta ya think, buddy?" Ash asked the yellow mouse.

"Pika chu, Pikapi!" Pikachu exclaimed happily. Giving his trainer a thumbs up.

"Well, let's get back to work.

Meanwhile, in the front yard. Dawn was in the middle of watering a set of Tulips with Piplup. The sun was shining brightly over their heads and they could feel the heat. Delia then came out of the house with a tray of what appeared to be lemonade. Placing the tray on a small table, she then went back inside to call Ash, Pikachu, and Mimey to let them know that there were drinks waiting for them out there. She then walked back out and called the young bluenette over to the table as well. Placing the hose down, Dawn picked Piplup up in her arms and walked over to the little table and took a seat next to the auburn-haired woman.

"Thank you very much for helping, Dawn. The flowers look happier already." Delia said cheerfully as she took a sip from her lemonade.

"Don't mention it Mrs. K. I help my mom out a lot with the flowers back home, so I know a thing or two about plants." Dawn said proudly.

Delia giggled at that.

"I must meet her sometime. We could share flowering techniques."

"I think she'd love that." Dawn laughed.

As the two shared a brief laugh, Ash walked out of the front door with Pikachu perched on his head, and Mimey following behind. The three proceeded to take a seat at the table and took a glass of lemonade from the tray. They all took a big gulp at the same time and sighed happily as the cold liquid ran through their bodies, and then relaxed in their seats. It wasn't until a minute went by that Dawn noticed Ash's change in head wear.

"What's with the hat?" She asked.

Delia directed her attention to what Dawn was talking about and also noticed the old hat. An instant wave of Nostalgia hit the older woman at full force and she smiled at the memories. Ash gave Dawn a quizzical look at first before realising what she was referring to. He removed the hat from his head and held it in his right hand.

"This? It's the hat I wore when I started my journey." Ash said proudly as he threw the hat in the air and it landed on his head without a flaw.

"That's the hat?"

"Yep. Of all the hats I've worn so far, this will always be my favourite."

"Really? Why's that?" The bluenette inquired.

"I went through a lot to get this hat. Aside from when I'm in my house, having a shower, or sleeping I never took this hat off." Ash explained.

"So it's pretty special to you." Dawn said.

"You bet."

"Can I try it on?" Dawn asked with a slight gleam in her eyes.

"No way, Dawn." Ash said seriously.

"Why not?" Dawn whined.

"You just can't." Ash stated, finishing his lemonade and getting up from the chair he was in.

Dawn followed suit and, before Ash could stop her, she grabbed the hat off of his head and placed it on her own. Shocked, Ash just stood there dumbly as Dawn stuck her tongue out to him in a childish manner. Shaking himself from his stupor, Ash grew a rather devious smile on his face as he walked over to the hose Dawn was originally using to water the flowers with.

"Now you're gonna get it." Ash said as he picked up the hose and pointed it in Dawn's direction.

"You wouldn't!" Dawn said. Her eyes growing wide.

"Oh I would." Ash said as he turned the device on.

Dawn gave a girlish shriek as she began to dodge barrages of water. She started running away from Ash, who began chasing after her, and the two soon began running all over the front yard, laughing as they did. As she watched on, Delia couldn't help but laugh at the scene taking place in front of her. Ash had finally caught up with Dawn and managed to successfully soak the back of her head and her back. The furious bluenette responded to this by doing a complete 180 and diving on the raven-haired trainer. She grabbed the hose off of him and managed to soak his face with water. As she was laughing, Ash took this opportunity to grab his hat off of her head and run as far away from her as possible.

_"You'd think they were actual siblings." _Delia thought to herself. "Alright, you two, enough. Both of you go inside and dry yourselves off. Dawn I think I have a few old clothes you could borrow while I throw the ones you're wearing in the dryer." Delia said as she stood up and walked with the two trainers back into the house.

"Thanks, Mrs. K. Sorry about that." Dawn said sheepishly.

"No need to apologise. I was young once too, you know." Delia said with a smile.

* * *

later that night, after Ash and Dawn had dried themselves off and put on dry clothes, the two trainers and Delia were all sitting at the table in the kitchen with empty plates in front of each of them. Though in Ash's case it was more like ten. Ash was telling Delia all about his journey through Sinnoh so far while Dawn told her all about the Contests she had participated in and about her friendly rivals, Zoey and Kenny. Delia was completely enthralled by the stories both trainers were telling, and smiled at the energy both trainers seemed to have. Pikachu was currently resting on the sofa in the living room, completely drained from both the journey to Kanto and the work he, Ash, and Mimey did around the house.

"Well, I must say, it seems like you've all had quite a journey so far. I can hardly believe half the things you've told me, Ash." Delia said as she took a sip from a cup of tea she'd made.

"Trust me, you're not the only one. According to Brock, seeing the impossible is a common thing when travelling with Ash. I would've continued to think he was joking until that incident with Giratina happened. And then that thing with Arceus." Dawn exclaimed.

"It's kinda like adventure and danger follow me everywhere I go." Ash said sheepishly as he placed his hand behind his head.

Delia just gave a knowing smile at that.

"Your father said the exact same thing when I first met him." Delia said in a faraway tone.

"That reminds me. Where is your husband, Mrs. Ketchum? I'd like to meet him." Dawn said with a wide smile. It soon disappeared however, when she noticed how quiet it had suddenly gotten.

Looking between both Ash and Delia, Dawn noticed a rather pained look was present in both their eyes. Ash stood up suddenly and rinsed his plate in the kitchen sink before placing it on the counter and heading into the living room next door. the top part of his face covered by his hair. Dawn looked towards Delia who sighed before giving the bluenette an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry, dear. I'm afraid Ash's father passed away eight years ago." Delia said softly.

At this, Dawn's eyes grew wide.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-" Dawn began frantically before Delia held up her hand.

"It's alright, Dawn. I hadn't really expected you to know. Ash very rarely talks about his father with anyone other than me. The only other exception being Misty. He isn't as bad as he used to be when it comes to talking about David. Though it's still a pretty sensitive subject." Delia explained.

"But you mentioned Mr. Ketchum a few moments ago and Ash seemed fine." Dawn said.

Delia nodded in agreement.

"He doesn't mind talking about him if it's a memory he has of when they spent time together, or I'm telling him a story about when I was travelling with is father on our Pokémon journey. But, when it comes to talking about how he died, Ash just stays silent when the subject is brought up." Delia explained.

"I... I didn't mean to-." Dawn began. Her eyes getting slightly misty from what Delia had told her.

The older woman placed a hand on Dawn's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"It's alright, dear. Ash will be fine, and I know he isn't upset at you for bringing it up." Delia comforted.

In the living room, Ash was standing at the fire place looking at the set of pictures that were lined across it on the mantle. They varied from pictures of him with his mom as a child, to when he returned from the Indigo Plateau with Misty and Brock. One picture in particular however, caught his attention the most. Reaching for it, Ash picked up a picture that showed an eight-year-old him with a younger looking Delia to his left, and standing to his right was a man that looked like an older version of Ash only with shorter hair, blue eyes, and unlike Ash had no lightning bolt birth marks on his cheeks. They were all smiling while standing outside their house, that appeared to be covered in snow.

Ash smiled at the picture and began to get lost in his thoughts. He slowly began to move his thumb over the picture unconsciously, never taking his eyes off of the frozen image of his father. He was taken out of his thoughts with a jolt when a hand tapped him on his shoulder. Turning around, he was met with the sad face of Dawn looking up at him with sad eyes. Before Ash could say anything, the bluenette surprised him by wrapping her arms around him in a hug. Ash froze for a moment, not knowing what to do.

"Are you okay, Dawn?" He asked with slight concern.

Dawn just shook her head and tightened her grip around Ash as she began to speak. Her voice muffled by Ash's jacket.

"I-I'm sorry Ash. I didn't know." Dawn said apologetically.

It took Ash a moment before he finally realised what she was talking about. He then wrapped his arms around her and reciprocated the hug. He then began to slowly rock back and forth in an attempt to cheer Dawn up. She looked up at the raven-haired boy with a sad expression on her face only to be met with his smiling one. Dawn thought of Ash as her older brother and never liked it when he was upset. She hated it even more when she thought she was the one who was the cause of him being upset. So seeing him looking down at her with a warm smile on his face brought a lot of comfort to the young coordinator.

"It's okay. You didn't know, and I never brought it up. You've got no reason to be upset." He said softly.

Dawn didn't say anything. She just nodded and buried her head back into Ash's chest as she continued to hug him. They stood like that for about five minutes before Dawn slowly unwrapped her arms from around Ash and looked down to the floor. It was then that she noticed the picture in Ash's right hand.

"Is that him?" She asked.

Ash nodded and held the picture up for Dawn to take. She held it in both hands and studied it carefully.

"Wow. He looks just like you." Dawn said with a smile.

"According my mom, I take after him in a lot of ways."

"He was reckless, found danger no matter where he went, and had a tendency to act more immature than a four-year-old?" Dawn asked with a smile.

"Exactly." Ash chuckled.

The two then fell into a comfortable silence after that. It wasn't until Delia's voice came from the doorway into the kitchen that they were brought back to reality.

"I think it's time we all went to bed." She said softly.

Ash looked at the clock on the mantle of the fireplace and saw that it was, indeed, very late. 12:30 to be exact. He proceeded to walk over to the sofa and carefully pick the sleeping Pikachu up into his arms. He then gave his mom a kiss on the cheek, and went upstairs. Dawn placed the picture back onto the mantle, wished Delia a good night, thanked her for dinner, and proceeded to climb the stairs the guest room. As she reached the top of the stairs, she saw Ash about to walk into his room. Feeling that someone was watching him, Ash turned around and smiled at the bluenette who returned the gesture.

"G'night, Dawn."

"Night, Ash."

With that said, both trainers went to their respective rooms for a good night's sleep. Blissfully unaware of what lay ahead for them.

* * *

**[Unknown Location]**

As the bright sun shines through a set of large windows, similar to the kind you'd see in a church only without the colors and paintings, a lone figure wearing a black cloak stands and gazes out at the clouds ahead. He never understood why people took the time to stop and look up at them whenever they could. There was no logic nor any reason to do so other than to waste time on whatever menial tasks they were doing and become surprised when they see a shape in them that, in reality, doesn't actually exist as it's just their mind projecting what they want to see.

"General Caine!" Came a voice from behind.

The man known as Caine, was taken out of his thoughts when someone approached him wearing some kind of grey uniform with red lines going down the sides of the waist and around the cuffs of the sleeves and wearing black boots. He bowed at the cloaked man who returned the gesture.

"What is it?" Caine asked.

"Sir, he's come back to Kanto." Replied the uniformed man.

**xXx**

Caine burst through a pair of large doors into what looked to be a control room that was filled with various monitors and computers. A large window, that was located at the front of the control room, showed a view of vast mountains covered in snow and what looked to be grey storm clouds ahead. In the centre of the control room was what looked like a circular table with various switches and buttons on the sides. And in the middle of the table like device, was a small glowing orb that projected a large holographic image of the Kanto region across the rest of the table.

Three people in similar cloaks to Caine's were standing around the table looking at the holo-map. One of them, a man with short black hair that was partially spiked in some areas and emerald eyes, turned towards Caine upon hearing his entrance. He nodded at Caine who proceeded to walk towards the holo-map as the other two people, a woman with long blonde hair that reached to the centre of her back and ocean blue eyes, and an older looking man with shoulder length grey hair and dark brown eyes, also acknowledged his arrival with brief nods before directing their attention back to the holo-map.

"Where is he now?" Caine addressed the short-haired man.

"It would appear that the boy has arrived at Pallet Town. And he's not alone. It seems he's brought one of his friends with him." The short-haired man replied.

"And where is the other one?"

"Back in the Sinnoh region." It was the blonde-haired woman who answered this time.

"Our agents reported that he received a call from the Cerulean Gym Leader yesterday evening asking for him to come to Cerulean to assist her with some work there." The older man spoke up next.

Caine crossed his arms in deep thought for a minute or two before finally speaking again.

"Send the siblings. But advise them to use extreme caution. I have a feeling _they_ will be watching to ensure the boy's safety." He finally said.

"I've already dispatched them. They'll have intercepted him before he reaches Cerulean City." The short-haired man spoke again.

"Excellent." Caine said. A malicious smile appearing on his face.

* * *

**What lies ahead for Ash? All will become clear very, VERY, soon.**

**That was Chapter three, ladies and gentlemen. What'd you think? Good? Bad? Leave a review and let me know.**

**Okay a few things I'd like to let you guys know.**

**1: Don't worry, this isn't a Dawn and Ash romance story. It's still a Misty and Ash romance story. I just wanted to further explore the relationship between Dawn and Ash as really close friends.**

**2: I'm off for the summer now so I will try to update as frequently as possible.**

**3: This story is going to connect to the same universe as two other stories that I've written and am currently writing for these reasons.**

**a: I've kinda had it planned to write a set of stories that connect with each other ever since I wrote my first story for this site. I just never really knew how to go about starting this little idea until now.**

**And**

**b: It's something I've always wanted to try. Think the Avengers movies, where certain things will either connect or be referenced in some way in future fics, only it's the Pokémon universe.**

**4: I've decided to put up notifications on my profile every few weeks to make it easier for you guys to know when I'm going to update next. Just look for the **_**STORIES IN PROGRESS**_** list on my profile, look for the story you're currently reading, and there should be information on the progress of its next update written beside it. Not entirely sure if that helps or just overly complicates things. I guess we'll find out.**

**Until then, live long and prosper and may the force be with you.**


	4. The Calm Before The Storm

**Chapter four, ladies and gentlemen. Sorry it took a while. I had to go through a lot of re-writes before I finally got the end result you see here. I also had a few personal things to take care of as well as redo three college projects so that was also a big interference (and an annoying one at that). Anyway, I hope you enjoy this latest chapter and I'll see you at the end.**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Pokémon, however I do dance to the original TV theme like I'm in Saturday Night Fever.

**HA, HA, HA, HA, On with story:**

* * *

**Chapter Four**

The Calm Before The Storm

* * *

Ash woke from his sleep with a slight gasp for breath. As he continued to breath heavily he ran his hand through is hair, and rubbed his forehead. As he did this he realised that he was, yet again, dripping with a cold sweat. Taking a moment, he began looking at his surroundings. upon realising that he was in his room, he relaxed. He felt a light nudge on his left hand which directed his attention to his left where he was greeted by a concerned looking Pikachu. "Pikachu, Pikapi?" Pikachu asked in concern as he nudged a little closer to the raven-haired trainer. Giving the best smile he could to reassure his yellow companion, Ash scratched behind the little mouse's ear.

"I'm fine, buddy. I just had a bad dream. Go on back to sleep." Ash said, as he continued to pet Pikachu on the head.

Pikachu looked reluctant for a while, but eventually complied with his trainer's request and went back to sleep. Ash then climbed out of his bed as quietly as possible, so he wouldn't disturb Pikachu or any of the other sleeping members of the house. He then left his room, and made his way towards the bathroom. Once there, he began throwing cold water onto his face in an attempt to cool himself off, and then dried himself with a nearby hand towel. He stared at himself in the mirror for a moment or two before leaving the bathroom and quietly making his way down stairs. He entered the kitchen, took a glass from one of the cupboards, filled it with water, and sat at the kitchen table. Sighing tiredly, Ash took a sip from his glass and began thinking over the dream, or rather, the nightmare he just had.

For several weeks now, Ash had been having the same nightmare. He was standing on a hill, watching helplessly as his home town was destroyed and his mother killed by someone who looked exactly like him. His doppelganger would then make it's way towards him, say _'This is the future that awaits you.' _and then in a flash of white, Ash would wake up as he did earlier. Though he did his best not to show it, the whole thing had started to take it's toll on the young trainer. He was constantly tired, whenever he smiled it was forced, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't understand what the dream meant. Was it just a nightmare that would go away over time? Or was it something else entirely? Whatever the answer was, Ash couldn't find it. No matter how hard he tried.

Sighing one more time, Ash finished his water in one gulp, placed the glass in the sink, and went back upstairs to at least try and get some sleep. He had quite the journey ahead of him to get to Cerulean. Even with his mom dropping him and Dawn there by car, it would still take several hours. Once back in his room, Ash got into his bed just as quietly as he'd left and lay down. Closing his eyes, he tried to get what little sleep he could. Unaware that a certain coordinator in training had been awoken by the sounds he made in his sleep. A concerned look was very evident in her eyes.

**XXX**

"Ash? Are you ready yet?" Dawn called up the stairs as she hopped on her left foot while putting her pink boot on the other.

"I'll be down in a minute!" Came Ash's reply.

"Okay!" The coordinator called back, finally getting her boot on properly.

Dawn was just about to leave the house when she stopped suddenly and turned to look back up the stairs. She was very worried about Ash this morning. Ever since last night, Dawn noticed that Ash wasn't his usual self. He wasn't as cheery as he usually was, he smiled but it looked weak, and she noted that Pikcahu kept looking at Ash with a very concerned expression on his face. Delia also noticed this and even tried to ask her son what was wrong. He just told her he was fine and that there was nothing to worry about. Dawn, however, wasn't convinced. Thinking back, Dawn realised that Ash had been acting differently for the last few weeks now. The only time he wasn't acting strange was yesterday when they had arrived at Pallet. But before that he was acting differently. His smiles seemed a little more forced, his usual unlimited energy seemed to be lacking, and even when he battled he didn't have his usual spark about him. It had made both Dawn and Brock very concerned. She decided she was going to get to the bottom of this once and for all.

"Hey, Ash?" Dawn called up to him again.

"Yeah?" Came the response.

"...Are you okay?" She asked hesitantly. She heard what sounded like a door closing followed by the sound of footsteps approaching the stairs. Ash appeared at the top of them with Pikachu on his shoulder, and a puzzled look on his face. As he began his descent down the stairs, he answered.

"Yeah. Why'd you ask?"

"It's just... You haven't been acting like your normal self lately. Pikachu's concerned too. Right, Pikachu?"

"Pi." Pikachu nodded in agreement.

Ash sighed and remained silent for a few moments. He was sure he could tell half of the truth to her, that he didn't get any sleep because of a reoccurring nightmare, but he wasn't sure whether or not he should tell the bluenette the details of the nightmare. For now, he'd simply go with telling her half the truth and then work from there. Taking a deep breath, he placed his right hand on Dawn's left shoulder, and gave her a warm yet weak smile.

"I appreciate the concern, Dawn, but it's nothing major. I just lost sleep last night because of a bad dream. That's all." He explained. Dawn looked up at him with a look on her face that said she wasn't convinced.

"You don't just lose sleep and then act differently over any old nightmare. What was the dream about?" Dawn asked. Her eyes pleading for him to tell her the truth.

"Dawn, I don't-"

"Was it about your mom?" She asked, interrupting Ash.

Ash's eyes widened at this. "How did you-"

"I woke up last night and I could hear you making noises in your sleep. It... sounded like you were in pain." Dawn said, interrupting Ash. "You were talking too."

"What did I say?" Ash asked quietly.

"You were saying things like 'Please', 'Stop', and 'Mom no'. You said the last one right before waking up." Dawn explained as she took Ash's hand from her shoulder and held it firmly with her left hand. "Please tell me what's wrong."

Ash stood there with a blank expression on his face for several minutes. _'So I was talking this time.' _He thought to himself as Dawn continued to look at him with a concerned expression. Contemplating on whether or not he should just tell the bluenette everything, Ash finally came to a decision, he gave Dawn's hand a light squeeze before speaking.

"Dawn, I really don't want to talk about it. Okay? Yes, I had a nightmare and I've been having the same one for the past few weeks, and yes it's bad but... I just, really don't wanna talk about it. Can you please understand that?" Ash said. There was a look in his eyes practically begging Dawn to drop the subject.

Dawn didn't really seem to have a choice. She simply nodded and let go of Ash's hand before heading out the front door without another word being said. The bluenette proceeded to walk out the front door of the Ketchum residence and towards a silver jeep with a retractable roof that was parked on the dirt road outside the front yard. Delia was sitting in the driver seat wearing a rather lovely looking sun hat, and talking to Mimey who was sitting next to her in the jeep. Once Dawn got in the backseat, she let her mind wander off into her own thoughts. She needed to find a way to help Ash with this whole dream thing. If he wasn't going to tell her then someone else was going to have to talk to him.

_'Maybe his mom?' _Dawn thought. _'No. I'm sure that as much as he loves her, he won't want to worry her with this. And I doubt he'd appreciate me going over his head and asking his mother to get it out of him. There has to be someone else.'_

Dawn's eyes suddenly grew wide when an idea struck her.

_'Misty!' _She practically screamed in her head.

Dawn was well aware of how close Ash and Misty were from all the stories she'd been told. Ash had even told the bluenette once that he had, and still has, strong feelings towards the gym leader. If there was anyone he'd open up to, it would be her. Smiling to herself, Dawn made her decision to ask Misty to talk to Ash when she got a chance. Just as she had finished making her plan, Ash stepped out of the house, closed the front door, and walked towards the jeep. As he got into the back of the car, Pikachu jumped off of his shoulder and hopped onto Dawn's lap. The bluenette smiled down at the yellow mouse and scratched behind his ears earning a delighted squeak from the electric-type.

"Alright, is everyone ready?" Delia asked as she started he car.

The two trainers nodded, and Delia pulled away from the house. Heading towards the road that would take them to Cerulean City.

* * *

"Lilly, is the guest room all set up?" A rather frantic red-head asked as she ran all over the gym, getting things ready for Ash's arrival.

"For the fifth time, yes. It's, like, all set up and ready for your boyfriend." The pink haired Sensational Sister said with a sigh as she sat on one of the sofas, filing her nails.

"HE'S NOT MY-" Misty stopped mid-sentence and took a deep breath before speaking again. "I don't have time for this, could you please just go and help Daisy and Tracey with the groceries while I clean the pool?" She tiredly asked.

"Do I have to? Those two get really lovey-dovey and it's disturbing to watch." Lilly whined melodramatically. She stopped almost immediately however, when Misty gave her the 'Glare of Death', and she shot up off of the sofa faster than a Rapidash and made her way to the front entrance of the gym.

Misty sighed exasperatedly and began to rub her temples as she headed towards the pool area of the gym. She had a lot to do today to prepare for her best friend's arrival to the gym and also to get the gym ready for any trainers coming to battle for the Cascade badge. So she was most definitely _not_ in the mood for any of her sisters' lazy attitude right now. On top of all of that, the events two days ago in Cerulean Square were still at the forefront of the young gym leader's mind. She hadn't heard back from Lecter at all since that day, and the supposed protection he promised hadn't shown up yet. Because of this, Misty had decided to take things into her own hands and make it her goal to protect Ash for the time he would be staying at the gym. She didn't care how dangerous this Specter organisation was, the moment they even attempt to harm him they'll have to answer to her and her Gyarados.

She shook her head to rid herself of those thoughts for the time being and proceeded to get to work cleaning the pool. Once that had been done, she moved on to helping Tracey with feeding the Pokémon in the large water tank that was located near the back of the gym. Ever since Tracey and Daisy had started dating, the Pokémon watcher had been coming to Cerulean more often than before to give a helping hand around the gym. Misty still couldn't believe it when Daisy had told her they were seeing each other, and that it was pretty serious. The red-head couldn't help but smile at the memory of seeing how happy Daisy was when she had told her they were dating. She honestly couldn't remember a time that she had been this happy with any other guy. And Tracey seemed equally as happy. It also surprised Misty just how much Daisy had slowly began to change. Oh she still had her lazy attitude most of the time and kept putting 'like' in the middle of nearly every sentence, but she was still maturing at her own pace and Misty couldn't be more proud.

Just as she finished feeding the last of the Pokémon, her Pokégear began vibrating in her pocket, informing her that she had received a message. Pulling it out, she read over the message she received and couldn't help the smile that escaped her lips.

_'Mist, we just entered Viridian City now. We should be at Cerulean City at around 3:00. Can't wait to see you again. Hope you've gotten stronger since we last saw each other :)' _The message read. Still smiling, Misty wrote a quick reply and then placed the Pokégear back into her pocket and went off to get the rest of her work done before Ash arrived.

* * *

Just as Ash placed his Pokégear back into his pocket, the message alert went off letting him know he received a text. Pulling the device back out, he read the text and chuckled as he read on.

_'Looking forward to seeing you when you get here. And you damn well better be stronger too, Mr. Pokémon Master. It wouldn't be much of a challenge if I beat you within the first minute of a battle :) x'_

Ash smiled and placed the Pokégear back into his pocket and went back to looking out the car window. Dawn was watching as he had read the text and noted that he was showing the first genuine smile he'd shown all day and assumed that Misty must have said something that made him happy. She decided to have a little fun with this and a sly smile appeared on her face. "Message from your girlfriend, Ash? What'd she say? Can't wait to smother you with hugs and kisses and be the love of your life?" She said teasingly. She then began giggling at the flustered look that appeared on the older boy's face.

"T-that... N-no she didn't!" Ash stammered as he tried to get control of his flustered face.

"But you would've liked her to." Dawn said matter-of-factually. The sly smile still present on her face.

"T-that's... You... I... Shut up!"

"Aaaaaaw. Ashy's in love." Dawn sang out teasingly as she began pinching Ash's cheeks. Pikachu was also joining in on the laughter.

"Dawn, cut it out." Ash whined as he struggled to get out of the bluenette's grip.

"Never!" Dawn laughed as she continued her playful assault.

"Alright you two, settle down. You're distracting me from driving." Delia said, though she couldn't help smiling along with Dawn at how flustered her son was.

As they drove down the road that would take them out of Virdian City, Delia made a turn that would lead onto a freeway that lead straight to Cerulean. In the back, Dawn wouldn't stop smiling at Ash who was trying, and failing, to ignore her. He turned to her with a slightly annoyed look that she completely ignored and the two began to stare each other down. After three minutes, Ash's annoyance reached it's peak and he let out an irritated sigh. "What is it, Dawn?" He asked, annoyance evident in his voice.

"Are you going to tell her?" Came the bluenette's response.

"Tell who what?" Ash asked, feigning ignorance as he knew exactly who and what the bluenette was talking about.

"You know. Tell a certain gym leader how you feel?" Dawn said as she winked at the once again flustered Ash.

"I...I...Maybe..." Ash mumbled just loud enough for Dawn and Pikachu to hear.

The bluenette and Pokémon both looked at each other with knowing smiles before turning back to the flustered teen. Ash was once again looking out the window on his side, trying to hide the blush that was now making him redder than a Groudon. He had wanted to tell Misty how he felt about her ever since she went back to Cerulean City to take over the gym when they were thirteen. And had tried on many occasions to tell her his feelings but never managed to sum up enough courage when the opportunity presented itself. He was also terrified of how she'd react. She might not return his feelings and laugh in his face, or worse, she might not want to be his friend because it'd feel too awkward to be around each other. The last one scared him the most. Rejection would be painful but it would never hurt more than losing her for good. While these thoughts went through the teen's mind, Dawn was busy playing around with Pikachu, and Delia was occupied with both driving and conversing to Mimey, none of the jeep's occupants noticed a large, grey, armored truck following closely behind them.

In the driver's seat of the truck sat a woman in her early twenties with short, cherry red hair that reached her shoulders and was tied in a small ponytail, dark purple eyes, and was wearing what looked like a black armored ninja jumpsuit with a katana strapped to the back. She looked at the jeep in front of her with pure concentration as she banged the metal wall behind her to gain the occupant in the back of the truck's attention. "Target's coming up now. Are you ready, brother?" She asked as she slowly began to pick up speed to get closer to the jeep.

In the back of the truck was a man about the same age as the woman in the front, wearing a slightly heavier looking version of her armored jumpsuit and had two hand guns strapped to his left and right sides. He had short, spiked black hair, green eyes, and had a scar stretching from his right cheek to his lower jaw. Upon hearing the knock and voice of his twin, the man called back as he opened a case and pulled out a medium sized silver hand gun with a grapple at the front of it. "I'm ready to go. Just get me close enough and give me a clear shot." He called back as he began walking towards the rear doors of the truck. Opening them, the man grabbed the roof of the truck and began to pull himself up. Once on top of the truck he began walking carefully towards the front, trying to keep his balance and not fall off from the high speed they were going.

His target in sight, the man aimed the grapple gun at the silver jeep and took his time. He'd only have one shot and if he missed he did not want to go back and tell his superiors that they failed. It would mean a fate worse than death for both him and his sister and he didn't particularly care for that to happen. So, taking a deep inhale and exhale of breath, the man aimed more accurately before getting ready to pull the trigger. With one final inhale and exhale, the man pulled the trigger and the grapple fired towards the jeep. It went straight through the back of the jeeps trunk and latched on with no sign of coming off anytime soon. Acting fast, and with great speed, the man did a back flip while holding onto the edge of the trucks roof with one hand so that he'd have a perfect balance as he landed back in the truck with ease. He then quickly attached the other end of the cable to a device attached to the rear of the truck and then closed the doors.

The woman heard a bang come from the wall separating the driver/passenger side of the truck from the rear and knew what to do next. Shifting the truck into another gear, the woman proceeded to drive into the fast lane of the freeway and overtake the jeep. Once the truck got far enough, the cable attached to both vehicles tightened from the pressure. As a result, the jeep was instantly pulled with great force from its position and was now being dragged by the truck at full speed. Both twins smiled as they thought the same exact thought.

_'This is where it gets fun.'_

* * *

**That was chapter four, ladies and gentlemen. What'd you think? Good? Bad? Whatever you though, let me know.**

**Again, I'm sorry it took a while to get this one out but like I said before, I had stuff that needed doing and it was unavoidable for the most part. And at the same time I had to add and take things out of this chapter that either worked or didn't work so it was a rather strenuous one to write. Regardless, I hope you still enjoyed it. **

**Sorry if it was a little slow but, as the title of the chapter suggests, this is just the start of the action that will ensue in the next chapter and future chapters to come.**

**My next update might take a while, though hopefully not nearly as long as this one took,and it'll mostly be action galore with some Pokéshippy fluff thrown in along the way.**

**Until then, live long and prosper and may the force be with you.**


	5. Free-way Freestyle

**Well here it is, ladies and gentlemen. Chapter five. A mostly action oriented chapter but it'll have some other stuff thrown in as well. I'm really sorry for the delay but college has been really hectic these last few months and I've been busy with projects so I haven't had much time to write. But I shall not let that stop me from writing and finishing this! So, I hope you enjoy and I'll see you all at the end.**

**Disclaimer: **I actually took a trip to the future in my Delorean to see if I actually owned Pokémon yet. Sadly, the answer is still no.

**On with the story:**

* * *

**Chapter Five**

Free-way Freestyle

* * *

It all happened so fast for them that not even the people in their own cars driving by could tell what happened for the first few seconds. One minute the passengers of the silver Jeep were simply passing time until they reached their destination, the next thing they knew, a large, grey armored truck over-took them in the fast lane and shortly after that, the Jeep suddenly jerked and did a very fast and vicious 180 degree turn causing the rear of the vehicle to leave the ground for a few seconds before landing again with a loud and heavy crash and begin to move backwards as if they were being dragged. Ash, once he had shaken of the dizziness, turned towards the rear of the Jeep to see what was going on. He saw a very thick, very strong-looking, silver wire run from the trunk of the Jeep all the way to the armored truck that was now dragging them at full speed down the free-way at a now dangerously fast speed, completely ignoring any and all traffic in their way. "What's going on?!" Came the terrified voice of Dawn as she turned to see the truck that was now dragging them.

The back doors of the truck opened a few seconds later and a man in a heavily armored bodysuit stepped out and jumped onto the truck's roof with ease and was holding what looked like a gun of some kind. He aimed it at his target and waited for a clean shot. "Have fun, brother." Came the voice of the man's sister from over the radio. Giving a small chuckle, the man flipped the safety off of the grapple and prepared to fire.

Ash realized what was about to happen and acted as fast as possible. "GET DOWN!" He yelled, grabbing Dawn and Pikachu and shielding them as best he could. On top of the truck, the man fired the gun. Launching what looked like a grappling hook and, with great speed and force, latched itself onto Ash's left arm. With a cry of pain caused by the grapple's crushing force, Ash was pulled from his position in the Jeep and towards the truck ahead. "ASH!" Came the cries of both Delia and Dawn as they watched on in shock and horror. Once he was close enough, the man grabbed the collar of Ash's jacket and held him up with his right arm. No matter how much he struggled, Ash couldn't get out of the near unbreakable grip of his attacker. The man just laughed as he watched the young trainer with amusement. He then reached in to his weapon belt and pulled out a hand gun of some kind with a needle at the front of it. The man then aimed to stick the weapon into the teens neck. Ash could do nothing but struggle as the needle got closer.

"Stay still you little shit!" The man yelled as Ash kept struggling to get away from the needle gun as it moved closer and closer towards it's intended target.

"PIKAPI!" Pikachu yelled out in fear and panic as he watched on from the Jeep. Upon seeing the danger his trainer and friend was in, a sudden rush of adrenaline and rage went through Pikachu and his cheeks began to spark. Slipping out from underneath Dawn, the yellow mouse ran to the rear of the Jeep. Trying to keep steady, Pikachu looked towards the man threatening his friend's life with a death glare and began charging up for a powerful thunderbolt attack.

In the driver's side of the truck, the woman noticed what the electric type was preparing to do from the side view mirror.

"Shit." She said under her breath. Reaching for her belt, she removed a Pokéball and pressed the center button releasing the occupant inside. Materializing in the passenger seat was a Lucario. It, however, did not look like an ordinary Lucario. Where black fur should have been there was silver, and where there should have been blue fur there was red. It's eyes gave a dark gold glow as it awaited it's master's command. "Get on the roof and take that Pikachu out with an Aura Sphere!" She commanded. With a grunt and a nod, the Lucario jumped on to the roof of the truck in the blink of an eye and began to charge its attack, aiming for Pikachu. Once fully charged, the Lucario launched a dark blue and purple Aura Sphere at the unsuspecting Pikachu.

Pikachu was so focused on saving Ash that he didn't notice the oncoming attack until the last minute. Thinking on instinct, the electric-type launched his Thunder Bolt attack at the oncoming Aura Sphere instead. As the attacks collided, there was a struggle for a few seconds before the power of both attacks caused a small but powerful explosion sending Pikachu nearly flying off of the Jeep. Dawn unbuckled her seat belt and made a dive for Pikachu, catching him before it was too late. The force of the explosion knocked both Ash and and the man over as well as cause both vehicles to shake violently until the grapple holding them together buckled and snapped causing the Jeep to be released and almost crash into several on coming cars and Ash to be forced off the side of the truck. He quickly grabbed on to the roof with his uninjured arm to stop himself from falling off.

Delia managed to swerve and avoid the oncoming cars before they came to a complete stop in the middle of the road. As Delia shook the dizziness off, she thought she could hear what sounded like police sirens from a distance. The occupants of the Jeep turned to the direction of the sound and were met with at least twenty or so police cars and two helicopters, one belonged to the police and the other to a news network. They all passed by the Jeep as if it weren't even in their way and proceeded to pursue the truck. As Delia looked on towards the direction of the truck, a sudden feeling erupted inside of her as she shifted the Jeep into another gear then without a second thought turned the it around and began driving at full speed towards the truck with a look of concentration and determination that only a Ketchum could possibly make.

On board one of the helicopters in pursuit of the truck, a news reporter began speaking through a microphone as a camera man recorded what was happening on the free-way below.

"We're coming to you live above the free-way between Virdian and Cerulean City where a police pursuit of a speeding truck is under way!

**[Cerulean Gym]**

"MISTY!"

Misty jumped at the sudden yell from daisy and ran into the lobby to see what was going on. When she got there she was met with the sight of her three sisters and Tracy staring with wide eyes at the TV. Misty turned her attention to the TV and took in an intake of breath at what she saw. On the screen was an armored truck plowing through traffic and constantly knocking cars into other cars in what looked like attempts to stop the pursuing police cars from chasing it. But that wasn't what shocked everyone watching. What shocked them was who they saw hanging off the side of the truck for dear life. Misty felt immense fear shoot through her body as she saw who it was.

"Ash!" She nearly yelled as she ran up to the TV to get a closer look. On the screen, the truck was swerving from left to right, nearly shaking Ash off in the process as it did. Misty's heart was racing faster than it ever had before as she and the others continued to watch in shock.

**[Sinnoh: Sunyshore]**

_"It looks as if two people are on top of the truck! One of them looks to be injured and hanging off the side of the truck. The other looks like he's trying to get up again." _The news reporter said. Shock evident in his voice.

In the Sunyshore Pokémon center, Brock stopped his usual flirting attempts towards Nurse Joy and, as well as the few people that were there, stared in absolute shock at what they were watching on the big TV in the waiting area. The breeder quickly turned away from the TV and ran to a ticket dispenser next to the video phones, purchasing a ticket for the next ferry back to Kanto.

**[Apartment Building: Cerulean]**

Two figures watched as the events on the news continued. They both looked at each other before they both nodded and made their way to the front door and exited the apartment.

* * *

Ash struggled from the growing speed of the truck as he tried to pull himself back up, which was getting harder to do as his left arm was screaming in pain and soaked in blood. But he wasn't about to give up. Using what strength he had, Ash began to pull himself up with great effort as a large amount of pain shot through his left arm, causing the teen to clench his teeth. Before he had a chance to completely pull himself up, a hand grabbed him by his collar and pulled him the rest of the way up. The hand then grabbed the teen by his hair and pulled his head back, exposing his neck. The man didn't waste any time and once again aimed the gun towards Ash's neck. The needle was inches away when suddenly, a police car knocked hard into the side of the truck in an attempt to get it off the road. The truck swerved from the impact and caused the man to lose his footing and fall over taking Ash with him. Ash saw this as his window of opportunity and, without hesitation, punched his attacker as hard as he could square in the jaw. With his concentration already broken, the man didn't expect the hit and in his shock, lost his grip on Ash.

In the driver's seat, the woman managed to regain control of the truck and glared angrily at the police car that hit them. Turning to her Lucario who was now back in the passenger seat, she simply nodded to it and the silver and red Pokémon raised it's left hand and began charging an Aura Sphere. Once fully charged, Lucario aimed towards the police car that hit them and fired without a second thought. The sphere hit the front of the car and caused it to fly several feet in the air and flip upside down before hitting the road, roof first. Several unsuspecting police cars tried to swerve out of the way of the now crashed vehicle which in the confusion caused three of them to crash into each other, one to drive into a barrier separating the free-way lanes, and one to flip over the now upside down police car. Satisfied, the woman looked towards Lucario and they both laughed briefly before turning their concentration back to the road.

On the roof, Ash struggled to stay standing from the constant swerving of the truck as he watched on in horror at what just happened. He was so distracted that he didn't notice the man finally regain his senses and stand back up, the swerving of the truck not once faltering his balance. He grabbed the back of Ash's collar and threw the teen towards the back of the truck with just enough force to ensure he didn't fall off. Ash fell hard onto his left arm and quickly clutched it as he clenched his teeth from the pain. "You're gonna pay for that right hook, kid." The man said as he walked towards the injured trainer.

Slowly, Ash stood back up, left arm soaked in even more blood, and stared daggers at the man in front of him. The sound of the police sirens and helicopters were muffled by the howling wind as the two stared each other down. The man reached behind him and pulled out what looked to be a military knife. Ash's adrenaline was shooting through the roof, and though he was terrified of what was happening, he stood his ground as the man slowly advanced on him, knife in hand. Once he was closer, he made to swing the knife at such an angle that it would slice Ash's chest. Just as the knife was about to make contact, Ash grabbed the mans wrist with great speed using his good arm, surprising the mercenary, as well as several people in Cerulean, Sinnoh, and Hoenn, and then made to knee him in the stomach with all his strength. The man staggered back a few steps from the force of the blow and looked towards the sixteen year old with wide eyes.

"How the hell did you do that?!" He asked as he slowly began to breath normally again.

"Picked up a few basic self defense moves from a gym leader in Sinnoh." Came Ash's response. Then without warning, he dived towards the mercenary and aimed to punch him in the jaw again. This time however, the man was ready and grabbed the incoming fist with his left hand then did a spinning motion and smacked his right elbow into the back of Ash's head. The teen staggered slightly as he became dizzy from the blow and his legs began to buckle. Eventually he fell to his knees and managed to use his right hand for support so he wouldn't fall all the way. The man smiled and took this opportunity to once again prepare the needle.

"Basic self defense isn't enough to beat me, kid." He said to the dazed teen. A second later Ash felt a stinging sensation as the man jabbed the needle gun into a vein in his neck. Looking up, the teen was able to get a glimpse of the tube at the top of the gun that was slowly filling with some of his blood. But what really got his attention was the odd glow that was emanating from it. It was glowing a dark shade of blue with a very faint dark purple hue floating around it like smoke. Once the tube was full, the man detached it from the gun and placed it in a pouch on the front of his armor. He then grabbed Ash's collar again and began to drag him to the back of the truck. "You're coming with us now."

Ash struggled in vein to try and get out of the mans hold but to no avail. He was too dazed to move too much and the pain in his left arm had gotten worse and was getting close to becoming numb. He seemed out of options and was close to loosing consciousness until a loud scream and being dropped brought him back to reality. Looking up, Ash was met with the sight of the man holding his now blood soaked right shoulder in pain and cursing under his breath. The man directed his attention to the front of the truck and Ash followed his gaze. The teen was met with the sight of a black 4x4 driving straight towards them with someone leaning out of the passenger window with what looked like a rifle in their hands.

"Son of a bitch!" Ash heard the man say in aggravation.

Turning back to the teen, the man picked Ash up by the collar of his jacket and swung him through the open rear doors of the truck causing the boy to land inside with a painful smack on the hard metal floor. Turning back towards the front of the truck, the man reached to his sides, pulled out his two handguns, and began to fire at the oncoming vehicle.

In the truck, the woman turned to her Lucario and pointed towards the 4x4. "Take them out!" She commanded. The Lucario nodded and stuck it's head out of the passenger window as it began to charge an Aura Sphere again. Once fully charged, it threw the sphere towards the black jeep. The 4x4 dodged it at the last second and the sphere impacted with the road causing a large explosion.

* * *

In the 4x4, A man with slightly long, brown hair, with blue eyes, was sitting in the driver's seat as he kept his concentration on dodging oncoming traffic and bullets. He was wearing a black jacket with a white T-shirt underneath, as well as navy jeans and black converse. A woman with dark purple hair that reached just past her shoulders, with Aqua Green eyes, was leaning outside of the open passenger side window as she began firing what looked like a powerful rifle at the armored truck. She was wearing a dark green jacket that reached her waist with elbow length sleeves, a white vest underneath, khaki shorts, black tights, and light brown boots. A grin grew on the man's face as he chuckled and turned towards the woman.

"I think you pissed 'em off, Yuki!" He called out to the purple haired woman.

She simply smiled in response and continued to fire. Several shots managed to strike the truck as the force of the bullets caused it to swerve from side to side. Once the 4x4 was close enough to the truck, the driver swerved to the right slightly before pulling the E-break then immediately swerving left in quick succession causing the 4x4 to turn and slam into the truck. Once it made contact, the driver quickly took the E-break off and slammed his foot on the gas to continue the pursuit as he then began to drive ahead of the truck.

In the drivers seat of the truck, the woman flinched from the impact the 4x4 had made, causing her to smack her head on the driver side window with enough force to leave a large bruise but not enough to daze her. Cursing under her breath, the woman pulled out her walkie-talkie and pressed the on switch at the side. "Billy, we need to take these guys out!" She said through the receiver as she continued to swerve out of the way of the oncoming bullets. On the roof, the man holstered his weapons, reached for the side of his belt and removed a Pokéball from it. Enlarging it, he threw the sphere into the air and in a flash of white light, an Alakazam appeared.

"Alakazam, take out that 4x4!" The man named Billy ordered. Complying, the Alakazam looked towards the vehicle in front of them and raised both its arms as it did. It then began to glow a very dark purple.

Not far behind in a silver Jeep, Delia, Pikachu, Dawn, and Mimey all gaped at what they saw in front of them. They saw several cars, both civilian and police, being lifted into the air all at once and began circling around the armored vehicle as it drove on. In the 4x4, the man driving stared wide eyed at what he saw through his rear-view mirror and had little time to react as one of the floating vehicles was thrown towards them. Quickly pulling Yuki in, the man swerved out of the way of the car as it came hurtling down towards them. As it was coming towards them, Yuki could see a man and a woman sitting inside the vehicle with terror in their eyes. Acting fast, Yuki's eyes suddenly began to glow a magnificent shade of Aqua Blue as she pointed her right hand towards the car as it continued to fall.

Inside the falling car, a man and woman with looks of pure terror on their faces screamed as they closed their eyes and waited for the end to come. It never did however, as they opened their eyes to find themselves standing on an over-pass above the free-way. Back in the 4x4, the man dodged the falling car with ease and then proceeded to drive straight ahead in front of the truck.

"You couldn't have just teleported the car?" He asked the woman next to him, not breaking his concentration off the road.

"I'd need time to concentrate which we don't have! Teleporting the people in them is the best I can do right now!" Yuki quickly responded, her eyes still glowing blue.

The man didn't have time to respond as another car was flung towards them. Once again, Yuki raised her hand towards the car as the people inside it suddenly vanished. The car came down with a crash as the 4x4 quickly swerved out of the way. Just as the man had gotten control of the vehicle, another car was flung at them. The man swerved out of the way again and Yuki managed to teleport the people out before it hit the ground. On the truck, Billy had a look of rage in his eyes as he saw each car miss their target every time. Having enough, he turned to his Alakazam who was still concentrating on hitting the 4x4. "Alakazam, throw everything at them!" He ordered as a psychotic smile appeared on his face.

"Kazam." The Alakazam complied as it began to throw every last car towards the vehicle.

In the 4x4, shock appeared on both occupants faces as they saw the amount of cars coming towards them. Their expressions suddenly turned to ones of complete concentration as the man began to make evasive maneuvers while Yuki focused on the people in the oncoming cars.

* * *

As the dizziness slowly began to fade, Ash slowly sat up. He looked around to get a better sense of his surroundings and realized he was in the back of the truck. The compartment was filled with various weapons of different kinds, from handguns, to rifles, knives, and swords, as well as several grenade launchers. All of which were secured to different wracks on the walls of the compartment. As he made to get up, Ash suddenly Winced in pain as he turned to his left arm and gasped at the state of it. The entire arm was drenched in blood, with a very large, very deep gash several inches above the elbow as the source of the red liquid. The teen quickly applied pressure to the wound to try and stop the bleeding and was met with a large surge of pain for doing so. Clenching his teeth, he slowly stood up and turned towards the open rear of the truck and gaped at the amount of destruction he could see in the distance as well as the few police cars left that were still pursuing the truck he was in. Ash was then brought back to reality by the sound of a familiar calling of 'Pikapi'. Shaking his head, the teen was met with the sight of his mother's silver Jeep which had finally caught up with the truck. In the back he could see Dawn and Pikachu looking towards him with concerned and frightened expressions, in the front he could see Mimey with the same expression as Dawn and Pikachu, and his mother sitting in the driver's seat with a look of pure concentration that the teen had rarely seen on her face.

Delia tried to get the Jeep closer so Ash would be able to jump on without any problems. Just as she was about to get close enough for Ash to jump on, a sudden explosion from an Aura Sphere that, by the sounds of it, had missed it's intended target, caused the jeep to swerve slightly before ramming into the back of the truck causing it to shake slightly. This drew the attention of Billy, who was still on the roof, and he turned towards the rear of the truck. Once he saw the Jeep he aimed one of his guns at it and began to open fire. As the bullets struck the car, Delia began to try and swerve to avoid them as best she could.

"Dawn, Pikachu, get down!" She yelled as she continued to swerve the Jeep from side to side. "Mimey, create a barrier around us now!" She commanded to her partner Pokémon. Giving a nod, Mimey began to concentrate on forming a barrier around the Jeep. He was almost finished when a sudden scream of pain shocked him out of his concentration. Pikachu, Ash, Mimey, And Delia all cried out in shock as Dawn clutched her right shoulder in pain as blood poured from where the bullet had penetrated.

"DAWN!" Ash practically screamed as an uncontrollable rage took over his entire body as his eyes as well as his right arm began to glow a very bright blue. Not wasting a second, he backed up far enough so his back was against the furthest wall of the compartment and without a second thought, started running towards the rear doors of the truck. Once at the doors, Ash made a jump towards the Jeep and landed on the bonnet without fail, shocking both Billy and the occupants of the Jeep. The teen then directed his attention towards the truck. Billy took an unconscious step back at the amount of rage he could see in the young trainer's eyes. Ash then raised his glowing right arm so that it was aimed underneath the truck. A blue sphere began to form around Ash's right hand until it became the size of a large rock.

"Shit..."Billy mumbled as he quickly returned his Alakazam and pressed the button on his walkie-talkie. "Jen, brace yourse-!" He didn't have time to finish his sentence as the sphere around Ash's hand fired and managed to detonate underneath the truck. The force of the explosion causing the truck to fly several feet in the air and flip forward several times before finally landing back on the ground with a thunderous crash. At this time Ash had managed to climb back into the Jeep and immediately checked Dawn. Before he could do much else however, the glow in his eyes and arm disappeared suddenly and shortly after, he passed out. The last thing he remembered was hearing Dawn and Pikachu call out to him. Then, blackness.

* * *

Darkness. That was all he could see. Just a never ending void of emptiness. _"Where am I?" _He thought to himself. His mind was drawing a complete blank as to how he got here, he didn't even remember the reasons that brought him here. All he knew was; there was blackness, and a lot of pain. Though from where, he didn't know.

**BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...**

_"What's that sound?" _He asked no one in particular.

**BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...**

There it was again. A continuous beeping noise that seemed to be beeping to a certain rhythm and at certain intervals. It seemed familiar, though he didn't know why. Then, after several minutes of thinking hard, he remembered where he had heard it before.

**[Flashback: Cerulean City Hospital, Seven Years Earlier]**

A young boy, no older than eight and with tears running down his face, stood outside a hospital room with his mother and one other person he didn't know, who was dressed in white. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Ketchum. We've done everything we can. But the internal bleeding is to far gone. The best we can do now is make him comfortable." The person in white said solemnly.

The boy heard his mother begin to cry after hearing this and he moved to grab her hand to try and comfort her. The woman responded to this by looking down at the boy and smiling sadly at him. She then moved to bend down and proceeded to give him a tight hug as she continued to weep. The boy reciprocated the hug and tried his best to hold back tears he didn't want to let out. "Oh, Ashy." Was all the woman could say through her hiccups and tears. The mother and son stayed that way for a while before being brought back to reality by the person in white clearing their throat.

"You can go in and see him now, if you want. He doesn't have much time left." The person said. The mother simply nodded, stood up, and took the boy by the hand before walking into the room they were standing outside of. The boy looked around the interior of the room and took in everything he saw. The room was filled with machines of all sorts that he had never seen before in his life. There was one in particular that caught his attention. It was a machine that kept beeping every so often, with a screen that had a green line bouncing upwards every time a beep was heard. But what caught his attention most of all was the man lying in the only bed in the room. The man was the spitting image of the boy. The only differences were the lack of lightning bolt birth marks which the boy had on both cheeks, and the fact that the man's skin was a lot paler than the boy's. The man noticed the two enter the room and gave them both a warm smile as they approached the bed. The woman wasted no time in taking the man's left hand in both of hers and started to cry.

"Delia, don't... cry. You know I... hate it when... you cry" The man said through deep breaths, as he stroked the woman's hands with his thumb. This only caused the woman to tear up more as she began to nuzzle the man's hand.

"I know you do, but what else can I do? I'm losing you and I can't do anything about it." Delia said through tears as she began to cry some more.

"You need to be... strong for Ash... he needs you... You need each... other." The man said. Slightly more out of breath this time.

"I know, and I will. I'll keep our son safe. I'll never let anything happen to him. I'll die first." Delia said in determination through her tears. The man simply smiled and made a slight gesture for Delia to come closer. She complied and leaned in closer to the man's face, already knowing what she was going to do. The two met in a passionate kiss that lasted two minutes before the two broke away for air. The two smiled as they looked each other in the eyes.

"I love you... country girl..." The man said. His breath getting lesser and lesser.

"I love you too, city boy." Delia said through a sad smile.

The two shared one more brief kiss before turning their attention to the eight year old boy standing slightly away from the bed. The man smiled warmly at the boy and gestured for him to come over to him. As the boy walked up to the bed, the beeping sounds of the strange machine seemed to have gotten louder and, as the boy had begun to notice, further apart than they originally were. Once at the bed, the boy climbed up, making sure not to cause the man any discomfort as he did. Once he was securely on the bed, the boy was able to get a better look at the man. His skin was a lot paler than he originally thought, his eyes had a pained look in them, and his breathing was very slow. The boy wasted no time in hugging the man on the bed and started crying into his shoulder. He may have been eight years old, but he was old enough to know what was going on. And it terrified him to no end. The man embraced his son with as much strength as he could muster without causing himself more pain and didn't let go for what felt like hours. Finally breaking away, the father and son looked at each other for a brief moment before the father began to speak. The beeping noises getting shorter as he did.

**BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...**

"Hey, don't... cry kiddo... You need to... look out for your... mom now... okay?" The father said as he wiped away a few tears from the boy's face. The boy didn't say anything. He simply nodded in understanding.

**BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...**

"Ash, you need... to listen closely..." The man struggled to say as his breathing got even slower. The boy looked upon his father with curiosity as he prepared to speak again. "Never give up... on what you... dream to be... And always protect... the people who... matter most to you... Do you under... stand son?" The boy simply nodded as more tears began to fall from his eyes. The father smiled and brought the boy into as strong a hug as he could manage. "You're destined... to do great things... in the future, Ash..." He whispered into the boy's ear as he slowly broke away from the hug. Delia picked Ash up from the bed and held him tightly as he began to cry even more.

**BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...**

"I love... you both... so much... Goodbye..." And with that, the man's eyes slowly closed.

**BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE...**

**[End Flashback]**

Ash woke up with a start as he shot up from the bed he was lying in, breathing heavily as he did. He quickly looked at his surroundings and realised he was in a hospital room. He made to get out of the bed but something on his legs stopped him. Looking down, Ash expected to see Pikachu sleeping on his legs but was surprised when he was met with a familiar head of red hair instead. It belonged to none other than Misty, who had her head resting on Ash's lap with a peaceful look on her face as she slept soundly. Ash began blushing like crazy as he had never been in a position like this before with his best friend. He stared at her peaceful features for who knows how long before a small smile appeared on his face as he moved his right hand towards her and began to stroke her cheek ever so gently. As he did this, a small sigh came from the gym leader's mouth as a small smile of her own appeared. Ash smiled even more and eventually took his hand away from her cheek. It was then that he noticed the state of his arm. It was wrapped in bandages from his hand, all the way to his shoulder. Shocked, he looked over to his other arm and noticed that it was wrapped just above the elbow. He moved to touch the bandage and as he did, a strong amount of pain shot through his arm causing him to nearly yell. The sudden noise woke the sleeping red head and she woke with a start as she looked up to see Ash wide awake.

"You're awake! I was so worried about you." She said as she dived on the teen. Embracing him in the biggest hug she'd ever given him.

Though the teen was in pain, the sudden embrace from the girl he loved didn't stop a smile from appearing on his face as he reciprocated the hug. The two were in that position for hours, neither wanting to break the embrace. The only sounds in the room were the sounds of a heart monitor, which had begun to beep faster than a Rapidash, and Misty's quiet sobbing as she was over come with happiness. Finally, after a long time, the two finally moved apart, though not removing their arms from around each other. The two stared at each other for a moment before realising their position and both quickly let go of the other, blushing as they did. Misty then moved to sit back on the chair she was originally sitting on and Ash moved to get more comfortable on the bed.

"So how're you feeling?" Misty asked as she looked the teen over with concern.

"I feel like I was hit by a Ryhorn, but it's not as bad as it was. How long was I out?" Ash asked. It was then he noticed the sad expression on Misty's face as she shifted in her seat.

"Nearly three weeks." Misty answered, taking Ash's hand in her own. "You had me so worried, Ash. I thought you weren't going to wake up." She said as new tears appeared from her eyes. "They said you'd lost so much blood that it was a miracle you were still breathing." She said as she began to cry. Ash gave Misty's hand a light squeeze before rubbing it slightly with his thumb in an attempt to comfort her.

"Mist, I'm okay. I've been through a lot worse than this."

"Don't remind me. You have a talent for getting into the worst kind of situations. I have half a mind to kick your ass for scaring me so much, Ash Ketchum!" Misty halfheartedly joked as she held Ash's hand tighter and looked down towards the ground. Ash's next question, however, made the red-head freeze entirely.

"What about the others? Is Dawn okay? The last thing I remember was seeing her get shot!" Ash asked, nearly in a panic. Misty was silent for a long time, which made Ash more nervous and scared. "Mist, tell me she's-"

"She's fine." Misty reassured him, though her voice was shaky as she said it. "The bullet went clean through her shoulder which the doctors say is a good thing because that means it didn't shatter the bones inside. Though she was in a lot of pain when they brought her in." Misty continued as her breathing got more shaky. "They stitched the wound up and put her arm in a sling until it heals properly. She's gonna be fine." She finished explaining. Shaking as she did.

Ash sighed in relief knowing Dawn would be alright. The events of the free-way were all jumbled up in his head and no matter how much he tried he couldn't remember a lot of what happened. How he ended up in the hospital especially. All he remembered from that day was getting a feeling of absolute rage upon seeing the girl he loved like a sister being shot and looking to be in incredible pain. Then nothing. Everything else was a blur. He decided to ask Misty if she knew what happened after he passed out. It was then that he realised Misty was shaking uncontrollably as he could feel it though her hand. He turned back to look at her and saw that she was facing the ground, causing her face to be hidden behind her bangs. It was then that Ash noticed her shoulders shaking and saw what looked like several tears fall to the floor. Reaching over with his right hand, the raven-haired teen put his finger and thumb under the red-head's chin and gently raised her head so that she was looking at him. It was then that Ash saw the sadness and pain in Misty's eyes.

"What's wrong?" He asked, concern filling his voice.

Misty didn't know what to say. She couldn't help thinking that all of this was her fault. If she hadn't called Ash asking him to come to Cerulean then maybe he wouldn't have ended up here in this hospital bed with bad injuries. If she told him the truth he might get angry at her and tell her that it was her fault and that he didn't want to talk to her anymore for endangering not only his life, but Delia's, Pikachu's, Mimey's, and especially Dawn's, who at the moment Misty wasn't ready to face yet. It was because of this that Misty couldn't look the raven-haired teen in the eyes. The guilt was to unbearable. However, when she tried to look away again, the pleading and concerned look in Ash's eyes made her stop. She always became mesmerized whenever she looked into those chocolate orbs of his, and always felt at peace knowing that he worried and cared about her. Taking a deep breath, Misty decided to be honest. She could never lie to Ash and she wasn't about to start now.

"It's my fault this happened." She said suddenly, surprising the teen in front of her. Ash looked both shocked and confused by this statement and couldn't understand how Misty could believe this.

"What're you talking about, Mist? You had no way of knowing that this would happen." Ash said, trying to comfort the gym leader by holding her hand tighter.

Misty just shook her head and took her hand away from Ash's. "But I did know! I knew there were people coming after you and I knew your life was in danger!" She nearly yelled as she shot out of the chair she was sitting on, causing Ash to become wide eyed in shock. "I thought that if I could get you to come here you might be safe and that I could protect you but I was wrong and now you're in hear and Dawn was shot and I am so sorry Ash!" Misty was practically sobbing at this point and put her head in her hands as she began to shake uncontrollably. The guilt finally becoming too much to bare. Ash didn't know what to say. Inside, his feelings were all over the place. Part of him was furious that Misty, the girl he loved and trusted with his life, knew he was in danger and never told him. Another part understood why she did what she did to try and protect him. And another part wanted to jump out of the bed and hold her, to tell her to stop crying and that everything will be fine. But he couldn't. In the end he just asked the single question that was on his mind at that moment.

"How'd you know they'd come?" He asked quietly. Before Misty could answer, the sound of someone entering the room got both teens' attention. Facing the door, the two were met with the sight of an elderly man in a suit with short brown hair that was grey in some areas with dark brown eyes and a walking stick. Misty recognised him instantly. The man stepped into the room and made his way towards the bed. Holding out his right hand as he did.

"I was the one who informed her of the possible danger. Simon Lecter, at your service."

* * *

**And that ends chapter five ladies and gentlemen. What did you think? Good? Bad? Whatever you thought, leave a review and let me know.**

**Again I am so sorry that this one took forever to get out but I had a lot of college work that needed to be done as well as my old laptop breaking on me so I had to wait a good while before I could get the one I'm using now and on top of that this chapter was a hard one to write. I went through so many different versions and none of them seemed to work or flow very well. Thankfully this version turned out pretty good. Or at least I hope it did.**

**I shall get to work on chapter six as soon as I can and will try to have it out soon.**

**Until then, live long and prosper and may the force be with you.**


	6. After the Storm

**Hello, ladies and gentlemen. I'm not dead! (Shut up! You'll be stone dead in a moment)**

**(If anyone got that reference not only are you awesome but I'll personally bake you a cake and then eat it as I have no idea where you live so I can't send it to you. But still you're awesome if you got that)**

**Welcome to chapter six. Gonna be a lot of plot exposition in this one guys so expect a long and possibly slow chapter, hence the long time it took to write it, or one of the reasons anyway. The second reason it's taken this long is because I've kinda been working on some new elements to Aura that don't normally exist that I'll be introducing in the next chapter. Like powers, abilities, and rules on how they're used as well as limitations, and trying to make it feel as if they've always belonged in the universe. I'll explain a little more about it at the end of the chapter. And the third reason is basically life got in the way and slowed my progress with writing. Thankfully, I managed to get the chapter finished and though it took forever, I hope you enjoy it regardless.**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Pokémon aside from the ones in my games. And maybe a Pikachu teddy that I've had since the 90's.

**On with the story:**

* * *

**Chapter Six**

After the Storm

* * *

Ash didn't know what to make of the man in front of him. He seemed to present himself with a kind of authority yet he seemed to have a look in his eyes that also showed both wisdom and gentleness that seemed to put the young teen at ease ever so slightly. He noted that the man had a tan suitcase hanging loosely in his left hand with what appeared to be a combination lock on the top of it. Shooting a quick glance at Misty, Ash noticed that she had quickly wiped away the tears that had stained her face and had a less than pleasing look at the sight of the new arrival. The only sentence Ash could use to describe it was, incredibly pissed. He then turned his attention back to the man in front of him, then towards the outstretched hand. Slowly, and with some reluctance, the teen took the offered hand and shook it, noting that for a man of his age, he had a very strong grip. Lecter took a seat in the chair Misty was originally in and moved his suitcase onto his lap.

"I must say, it's remarkably pleasing to see that you're awake. The doctors feared it might have been months before you fully awoke with the amount of blood that was lost and the injuries you suffered. But I can see you're a great deal stronger than that." Lecter began with a smile. Ash eyed him curiously. He still didn't know what to make of this man. Half of him felt at ease, especially when he saw the welcoming look in the man's eyes. But then there was the other half that was weary of him. And the look Misty was directing towards this stranger wasn't helping much either. The teen was brought back to reality when the man spoke again. "So how are you feeling, Mr. Ketchum? Better I hope." He asked as he began to enter in a combination on the suitcase.

"I've been through worse." Ash answered as he got more comfortable on the bed.

"I don't doubt it." Lecter said with a slight smirk. He had to admire the boy's strength. He then directed his attention towards the red-head standing next to Ash, giving a less than pleasant look towards him. "Ms. Waterflower, if you don't mind, would you give us a moment alone please? I wish to discuss something private with Mr. Ketchum." He asked in a polite manner. Ash felt an immense shiver run down his spine as he turned back towards Misty to see she now had a death glare fixed on the man and unconsciously moved back as far as he could on the bed. If looks could kill, not only could the look the gym leader was giving to Lecter do exactly that, but it would've taken out a large majority of the hospital as well.

"I'm not going anywhere." Misty said evenly and rather dangerously as she crossed her arms, her glare never faltering once. Lecter just continued to stare with an unfazed look on his face as the red-head continued to glare at him. They both continued to stare at each other for a few minutes in complete silence, the only sound that could be heard was coming from the heart monitor as it continued to beep at regular intervals. Finally, it was Ash who broke the silence by putting his right hand on Misty's left arm to get her attention.

"Mist, it's fine." He said softly as he gave her arm a gentle squeeze. Misty turned her attention to Ash and the two trainers looked each other in the eyes for a moment before the red-head finally sighed and nodded, relaxing her posture slightly.

"Okay. I'll be just outside the door." Misty said as she made her way towards the door leading out to the hall, giving Lecter one final glare before finally lieaving. As she left, Ash turned back towards the older man who had a small smile on his face.

"Who are you exactly?" Ash proceeded to ask, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"As I said, my name is Simon Lecter. I'm the head of a privately funded organisation called Serenity. We work as a sort of Special Forces, doing the jobs that the usual military or law enforcement aren't capable of doing." Lecter explained.

"Wait, what kind of Special Forces?" Ash asked.

Lecter paused what he was doing, looked up at the teen, and smiled slightly as he answered "Aura, Mr. Ketchum. Something I believe you're familiar with. Each and every member of Serenity has aura and their own unique abilities that come with it."

To say Ash was surprised by this answer was an understatement. He never thought in a million years that aura would make a comeback into his life. And now here was this man telling him there was an entire group that specialized in using it. He was taken out of his brief surprise when he noticed Lecter opening the suitcase on his lap, once the combination had been entered on both locks. He proceeded to pull out what looked like two files, Golden-Brown in color with the word confidential in red letters stamped on each of them, and handed them to Ash who began to look through both of them. The files contained two pictures of a man and woman, one of which Ash recognized as the man who had attacked him and shot Dawn. His anger began to flare when he saw his face and his fists unconsciously clenched as he continued to stare daggers at the picture. The teen's attention was brought back to Lecter as he continued talking.

"These were the two who attacked you on the freeway. Bill and Jennifer Smith. Brother and sister and two of the most skilled and dangerous mercenaries on the planet. They disappeared shortly after their truck crashed into one of the free-way's side barriers so I've had some of my people watch over you just in case they decided to return while you were unconscious." He explained. Ash stared at the two pictures for another few moments before directing his attention back to the older man in the chair.

"You said they were mercenaries? Who sent them?" The teen asked with slight confusion.

"They work for a group known as Spectre." Lecter began "They are a tyrannical group, Mr. Ketchum. Full of people who want nothing short of control over everything and everyone and they will stop at nothing and go to extreme lengths to accomplish their goals." He finished. A hint of venom in his voice as he explained.

"Are Spectre-" Ash started only to be interrupted by Lecter.

"Yes. They're aura users as well." He said before pointing to the two pictures "Well, except for those two. From what we can tell they're the only members who aren't aura users. Just hired guns." He finished. Ash thought on this information before being drawn back to Lecter who surprisingly had an apologetic look in his eyes.

"Also, I owe you an apology, Mr. Ketchum. And to Ms. Waterflower, as well." He said, looking down sadly. Ash looked on in confusion, not sure what Lecter was apologising for. Seeing this, Lecter explained "I made sure to send two of my best agents to watch over and protect you and your friends the moment you reached Cerulean. However we were caught by surprise when those two decided to strike on the free-way. We expected them to use more shadowy tactics instead of a full blown assault. It took us by surprise and as a result of our failure you're now in here and so for that, I apologise. Usually Spectre are more discreet with how they operate." He finished explaining, mumbling the last part more to himself than to the teen in the bed. A contemplative look on his face.

Ash sat there staring at the older man for a brief moment before finally speaking "So why'd they come after me?" He asked as he handed back the files to Lecter. The older man took them and placed them back in the suitcase, then placed the case on the floor next to the chair. He thought about how to answer Ash's question for a few moments before finally coming up with one.

"With you specifically, we don't know. But we do think it has something to do with your aura." He said. Upon hearing this, Ash had yet another confused expression on his face as well as a look of curiosity, not quite understanding what Lecter was getting at. Seeing this, he elaborated further. "There's something in your aura, Mr. Ketchum. While you were unconscious I had a team take a sample of your blood and bring it back to the laboratory at our headquarters. What we saw was unlike anything we've ever seen before."

"What do you mean?" Ash asked as he grew more confused.

"It's complicated to explain." Lecter began "You're aura's energy is unlike anything we've ever seen and we can't find a logical explanation as to why. But we did conclude that this is what Spectre was after, and that's why they sent the mercenaries." He finished. The room was quiet for a bit, while the raven-haired teen processed what he had just heard. That's when something in Ash's memory clicked.

"That explains it!" He exclaimed with a snap of his fingers. The rooms only other occupant looked at the boy with confusion. Seeing this, he began to explain. "Look, most of what happened on the free-way before I conked out is still hazy, thanks in most part to that guy, Billy, giving me one hell of a concussion. But he did something that I didn't get at first, but now it kinda makes sense." He explained.

"And what is that?" Lecter asked as he sat a little closer to the edge of his seat. A serious look in his eyes.

"He stuck some kind of needle into my neck and took some of my blood, but it looked like there was something else in there too. It looked like my aura, only a darker shade of blue. And it had this sort of, purple smoke stuff surrounding it." Ash finished explaining. A faraway look in his eyes as he tried to remember the events of three weeks ago as best he could. When he directed his attention back to Lecter, he saw that the older man had a look on his face that showed he was in deep thought about something.

"_Could they be…? No it's not possible. Then again…" _Lecter's mind began racing with thoughts over what this new information could mean. He was then brought out of his thoughts by Ash, who, to the older man's surprise, had an angry glare in his eyes as he spoke.

"So why keep this a secret from me? When you got Misty to call me why not just tell me what was happening instead of endangering my friends and my mom?" Ash asked with a small ounce of anger in his voice as he continued to glare at the older man in front of him.

Lecter sat there in his chair with a look that showed he was both unfazed at the look he was getting from the young trainer, but at the same time he understood why he was angry. Getting more comfortable in the chair, Lecter once again reached into his suitcase and pulled out a third file. Holding it in his right hand, he held it at an angle so that the teen could get a clear view of it. As Ash leaned in closer to get a better look, he was very surprised to see that the name on the file was his along with a picture of him from back when he was ten in the Indigo League.

"You have a file on me?" Ash asked with slight confusion, his anger dissipating, as he continued to stare at the file in Lecter's hand as if it were alien to this world.

"It's standard procedure to have files on all aura users around the world. It helps us to determine who are friendly and who are, well, not." Lecter began as he opened up Ash's file and started to read out excerpts from it "_Faced several high threat level criminal organisations and has managed to either cause them to disband and/or go into hiding, saved the world from destruction on numerous occasions, strong determination and Will to survive, very protective of those close to him, and never backs down from any fight or challenge laid in front of him." _Lecter read out. Ash couldn't help the proud yet cocky grin on his face at hearing this.

"_However_"Lecter continued"_Subject tends to show strong habit of acting before thinking, is incredibly stubborn more often than not, causing him to jump into dangerous situations without a second thought or regard to his own safety, and in doing so has caused severe injury to himself. While this has shown to act as fuel for his determination to try even harder to succeed, it has been assessed that this can also be a possible weakness which may lead to further injury or even death to not only himself but those around him. Further observation may be required."_ Lecter finished as he closed the file, placed it in the case and looked back towards Ash, whose grin had now disappeared.

"This is why we didn't tell you. We felt that if we told you what was happening you may have been more compelled to stay and face these people head on, not only risking your life but the lives of others as well. It may have also resulted in Spectre attacking earlier than they did if they suspected you knew they were coming. Having you brought to Cerulean where we could better watch over you appeared to be the more preferred option at the time. But we knew simply telling you ourselves wouldn't have brought you here so we needed someone you trusted more than anyone." He explained.

"So you get Misty." Ash finished, looking towards the door the red-head had exited the room from before turning back to the older man in front of him. Lecter nodded in conformation before speaking again.

"It took a lot of convincing. She was under the assumption that I was just trying to use her to get to you so I could harm you in some way. She even threatened me should it turn out that were the case." He chuckled "She cares for you a great deal, Mr. Ketchum." Lecter said with a small smile.

Ash was silent for a while upon hearing this and was deep in thought. He wasn't surprised that Misty had done something like that, far from it. If anything he would've done the same thing to protect her. However, he was saddened by the fact that when Misty had blamed herself for what had happened to him and Dawn, clearly very upset, he did nothing to comfort her and that made him more angry at himself than anything else right now. _'I should've done something.' _He thought to himself sadly. Looking back, he knew her heart was in the right place and that she was doing it because she wanted to protect him. And if the roles were reversed he probably would've done the same thing. He was quickly brought out of his thoughts by the sound of Lecter rising from his chair and picking his suitcase up. Turning to Ash, he bowed slightly before smiling.

"I'm afraid I must leave you now, Mr. Ketchum. I'm sure you have more questions and believe me when I say they will be answered in due time. But for now you should recover from this ordeal. I've sent two of my people to the Cerulean gym to watch over you and your friends and also to assist you in something." Lecter said as he turned and made his way to the door.

"Assist me in what?" Ash asked as he raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Lecter stopped and turned around for a moment before smiling at the teen. "You'll find out soon enough." And with that said, Lecter turned and exited the room through the door. Leaving Ash to think over everything he had just found out. To say he was shocked would be the understatement of the century. Aura, secret organisations, a war no one knew about, and finally Misty. He could see the guilt and sadness in her eyes when she told him she knew he was in danger and that she blamed herself for everything that happened. He hated himself for not doing anything when she started breaking down in front of him, he wanted to do something but his emotions were all over the place at that point. He needed to make things right, he knew he did, and he needed to help Misty realize that it wasn't her fault. But how?

"What is it with me and bad luck?" Ash said to himself as he sighed and lay back down on the bed, resting his right arm on his forehead.

"Believe me you're not the only one asking that question." Came a quiet voice with a sigh. Lifting his head from his pillow slightly and looking towards the door, Ash saw Misty enter back into the room and sit in the chair that Lecter had previously been in. The two were quiet for a very long time, neither making eye contact for more than a second before looking somewhere else. The tension between the two was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Finally, Misty was the one who broke the silence. "I'm sorry, Ash. I wanted to tell you so badly but that Lecter creep said it would be dangero-"

Before she could continue any further, Ash surprised her by grabbing her by the shoulders and quickly bringing her into a hug. She was frozen for several minutes before she finally got her senses back and wrapped her arms around the raven-haired boy in a tight embrace, several tears shedding as she did as her emotions began to pour out.

"It's okay, Mist. It's not your fault." Came Ash's soft voice in the red-head's ear. The two stayed that way in each other's arms for several moments before slowly separating, however taking hold of each other's hands as they did. After a few seconds, Ash continued "I'm not angry. I mean I was, at first, but my emotions were so outta whack when you told me that I had pretty much gone into overload with everything that was happening and I didn't know what to say."

"But if I had told you, then maybe-" Misty began before once again being cut off by Ash.

"'Then maybe' nothing. I still would've been in danger and maybe others would've gotten hurt too if I didn't leave Sunyshore. Either way I would've ended up in a hospital somewhere so don't go blaming yourself. You were trying to protect me. If I was in your place I would've done the same damn thing you did if it meant you'd be safe." Ash said seriously, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Ash…" Was all Misty could say in a quiet voice, her grip on Ash's hands tightening ever so slightly. Ash simply gave her a soft smile before continuing.

"You're my best friend, Mist. I couldn't stay mad at you even if I tried." He finished as he gave Misty's hands a small squeeze before pulling her back in for another hug. Misty could do nothing more but smile and reciprocate. A few happy tears falling from her eyes as she did. They broke shortly after that, Misty sitting back in the chair and Ash getting comfortable on the bed again, and the two fell into a comfortable silence for a few minutes before it was once again broken by Ash. "By the way, where are mom and Dawn? And now that I think about it where're Pikachu and Mimey?" He asked.

"Well, Mimey and Pikachu were sent to the Pokémon center to get some rest along with your other Pokémon. Though it took a lot of convincing to get Pikachu to leave your side, but I told him not to worry and promised that I'd stay here until you woke up." Misty began to explain, a slight smile appearing at the memory of the little mouse's dedication to watching over his trainer and friend "And your mom and Dawn are in the waiting room with the others."

This got Ash to raise a quizzical eyebrow. "Others? What others?" He asked.

The gym leader began to explain. "Gary, Tracey, Brock, Mrs Hikari, Professor Oak, Daisy, Lily and Violet are all out in the waiting room at the moment with Dawn and your mom." She explained "We all saw what happened on the free-way because it was shown live on the news. It was hard to make out some of it because the camera was shaking but we were able to tell it was you. After it all ended and we saw you and Dawn put in an ambulance we all rushed to the hospital. Garry and Professor Oak have been here since you were both admitted along with my sisters, Tracey and myself. Brock arrived a day later and Dawn's mom the day after that. May and Max called this morning too and said they'd be here in a day or two." She finished.

"Oh, well I better go and let 'em know I'm awake." Ash said as he began to get out of his bed only to be stopped by a sudden sharp pain in his side as well as a slightly annoyed, yet at the same time amused, Misty. Even when he was badly injured he still managed to get large bursts of energy out of absolutely nowhere. One of the many things she greatly admired about him. Shaking her head slightly, she quickly, yet gently, placed her hands on Ash's shoulders.

"Whoa there, Ketchum! You're not going anywhere." She began as she gently forced him back into bed. "You're going to stay here and rest. I'll let everyone know you're awake and make sure Pikachu gets brought here too. Now stay." She finished firmly as she headed towards the door, opened it, and left.

Once she left Ash continued to stare at the door for some time in bewilderment before a small smile finally appeared on his face. Shaking his head, he simply laid back down on his pillow and closed his eyes as a small smile made its way on to his face, the only sound in the room coming from the heart monitor.

**xXx**

Meanwhile, near the entrance of the hospital, Lecter walked through the sliding doors leading to the outside and proceeded to walk towards a car park as the evening sun slowly began it's decent into the horizon, creating a golden hue of every shade. He stopped suddenly, however, as he got a feeling of someone looking at him from behind. Smiling slightly, he spoke to the person standing no more than several meters away, already knowing who it was.

"He's the spitting image of his father." He said, not even turning around. "He even has that same reckless personality." He turned now, facing the one who had been standing behind him. Auburn eyes glaring into his with a mix of emotions, the most prominent one being anger. Not being fazed by the glare, he continued. "But then he also has the same fire and passion inside of him that you have. You must be very proud of him, Delia."

Delia stood glaring at the older man whom she hadn't seen for many years, fighting with all of her will power to not to close the gap between them and punch him hard in the face. She was on her way to see if Ash's condition had changed and to also check up on Misty as well, however when she had reached the hallway that lead straight to the room they would be in, she was surprised to see a man, whom she had not seen or spoken to in a long time, walking out of the room and towards the staircase further down the hall. She had decided to follow him and chose to make her presence known at the right time. The silence between the two lasted for quite a while, both staring at the other without blinking. Lecter wasn't surprised by her look towards him, nor the anger he could sense coming from her. If anything he understood more than anyone why she wasn't happy to see him. And he knew deep down he deserved it.

Her arms crossed, she took a deep breath before finally speaking. "I already lost the man I love because of you, Lecter. I'll be damned if I let you drag my son into this too." She began, her voice calm yet very cold. "Why are they after him? And don't even think about bullshitting me because I know you know!" She demanded as she slowly began to close the space between them, stopping a few steps in front of him.

Lecter was silent for a moment, just looking into the eyes of the woman in front of him. He could see every emotion she was feeling as he stared into them and at the moment she was afraid, no, terrified at what the answer to her question would be, though her face showed none of it. One of the many things he admired about Delia was that even in dire moments and moments of unimaginable stress, she would always keep a straight and brave face and push her fear out of site to help keep the people she cared for safe. He smiled internally, happy to see that she hadn't changed in all these years. That the fire still burned bright inside of her even after everything that had happened. Shaking his thoughts back to the present, he continued to think over whether he should tell her the truth or not. Though deep down he was sure she knew the reason why Ash was in danger, she probably wanted to hear him say it to confirm her fears. Help her prepare both mentally and physically for what was to come. Taking a deep breath, something he rarely did in moments of extreme tension like this, he answered her question with nothing but honesty. He owed her that much.

"You know why they're after him, Delia. The same reason they came after you and David. The same reason that cost David his life. They're close, Delia. Closer than they've ever been before, and they need your son to accomplish what they set out to do so many years ago." He began as he looked deep into Delia's eyes, seeing for the briefest of moments, pain and sorrow over the mention of her late husband which were shortly pushed back deep down only to be filled once again with anger, yet with a very strong aura of determination. Delia said nothing for a few moments, the silence being filled by the sounds of traffic and other people and Pokémon in the distance, before finally speaking again.

"Have you told him this?" She asked quietly.

Lecter shook his head in response "No. It's not my place to tell him the truth about his father. It's yours." He said. Delia went deathly silent at that, fear and anxiety clear as day in her eyes. She was brought back to reality as Lecter spoke again. "The attack on the free-way only shows how far they're willing to go to get to him, they will never stop until he is firmly within their grasp." He paused for a moment. Choosing his next words carefully. "He needs to be trained, Delia. He needs to be able to defend himself against them. He won't last a week otherwise."

"And then what?!" Delia suddenly snapped, her fists clenched "Become another one of your soldiers?! Not a chance in hell, Simon! I'm not sending my son into a war he has no place in!" Delia's voice was almost at shouting level by the time she was done talking, her breathing becoming very heavy as she finished.

"A war that you and David had no trouble choosing to be a part of when we first met. You both willingly chose to help us fight them because you knew it was the right thing to do. To keep all life safe from these monsters." Lecter snapped back "Once David agreed to join us you almost immediately followed him." He said, though he instantly regretted it once he saw the pain that had once again resurfaced in the younger woman's eyes.

"That was before I watched him die." Delia said barley above a whisper though Lecter heard her loud and clear, emotion completely vacant in her voice. Without saying another word, she turned and headed back towards the hospital. She stopped half way however, and began to speak again. Her back still facing Lecter and still no emotion in her voice. "Teach him how to defend himself, but that's it. He is not joining your cause. I'm not losing the only family I have left." And with that said, she headed back into the hospital, leaving Lecter alone to his thoughts. His face showing no emotion what-so-ever.

* * *

Ash had never been happier than he was right now. Having finally been discharged from the hospital by a doctor who had made it a point to stress the fact that he was to take it easy for the next few weeks, something that Ash had instantly forgotten about the moment he set foot outside of those hospital doors, he and Pikachu had immediately made a sprint for the Cerulean Park. Following close behind the young teen were Misty and Dawn who watched on with amused smiles Ash's and Pikachu's antics. The rest of their group, Delia, Tracey, Brock, Johanna, Daisy, Lily and Violet, had all gone on ahead to the Cerulean gym while Professor Oak and Gary had to head back to the lab in Pallet as they said they had some research waiting that couldn't be left on hold for much longer. However before their departure they had both wished Ash a speedy recovery and said their goodbyes. That left Misty and Dawn who had said they were gonna stay with Ash to make sure he didn't hurt himself any more than he already was.

Dawn couldn't help but smile at Ash's near inexhaustible energy after being stuck in a hospital for so long. Especially after everything that had happened. The last three weeks had been very trying for the young bluenette. After she had been shot on the free way everything had become a blur. She remembered the excruciating pain that had been coming from her shoulder where she'd been shot followed by someone screaming her name not long before a bright flash of blue and a large explosion shook her out of her shock long enough to see Ash lying next to her in the back of the Jeep soaked in blood and unconscious. She had tried waking him up and kept calling his name out in vain, all the while a distraught Pikachu had been shaking his best friend with all of his strength to try and wake him up to no avail. Not long after that, several ambulances as well as roughly twenty or so police vehicles had arrived to take control of the situation and take any wounded to the nearest hospital.

Almost immediately after their arrival, Dawn and Ash had both been loaded on to an ambulance followed closely by Delia, Mimey, and Pikachu, and were taken to the Cerulean City Hospital where upon their arrival they were instantly taken to separate emergency rooms and treated for their injuries. Dawn's surgery hadn't taken too long. The bullet didn't go too far into her shoulder so it was out of her in a matter of seconds and the doctors had the wound stitched up in a matter of minutes. After the surgery, the coordinator was taken to a room, hooked up to an I.V. and given something to drink to ease the pain and help her get some sleep. After several hours of sleep, Dawn had woken up to the relieved smile of Delia Ketchum who had proceeded to explain to the bluenette that her Pokémon had been taken to the Pokémon Center and that her mother and Brock were currently on a Ferry and would be arriving at the hospital the next day. The older woman's look had grown more somber after that and she had gone on to explain that Ash's surgery, though long, had gone well but due to the physical and mental stress his body was pushed through he was now in a comatose state and had been moved to a hospital room a few minutes before Dawn had woken up. When the Bluenette heard this, she instantly jumped off the bed, ignoring the brief wave of dizziness, unhooked the I.V. from her arm and ran out the door to find the room Ash was in with Delia not far behind.

When she had finally arrived at the door to his room, Dawn wasted no time entering it. When she did she was greeted by the sight of Ash lying in the hospital bed with a bunch of wires hooked up to him as well as various bandages wrapped around his right arm and torso. Snuggled up next to Ash was Pikachu, his eyes not once leaving his friend as he continued to lay comatose. The steady sound of a heart monitor was the only sound that occupied the room. Dawn had taken a seat next to the right side of Ash's bed while Delia took the seat on the left. It was at this point that the door to the room flew open allowing, who Dawn shortly learned to be, Misty, her three older sisters Lily, Violet and Daisy, Daisy's boyfriend Tracey, Professor Oak and his grandson Gary. After Misty and Delia had shared a brief but comforting embrace, the introductions were made between Dawn and the new arrivals.

The three weeks that had followed had been tough on the bluenette. The pain that coursed through her shoulder was none too pleasing and was the cause of many a sleepless night. If it weren't for the existence of the mighty painkiller she may have never gotten as much sleep as she did. As well as that, Ash's condition hadn't looked to be improving anytime soon and Dawn had slowly begun to fear that he may never wake up, and to top it off Dawn's mother, Johanna had been acting very strange since her arrival at the hospital with Brock. She had been very quiet and distant whenever Dawn had tried to speak to her and the times when her mother did speak where usually short one to two word sentences. Dawn figured that her mom was still in a state of shock at seeing and hearing what had happened to her only daughter. It still worried her though. After Ash had woken up things had gotten a great deal better, the somber feeling that had befallen everyone had finally lifted and they were all more than thrilled to see Ash awake and acting like his usual self despite the injuries. It still brought a smile to Dawn's face as she remembered Misty bringing Pikachu back from the Pokémon Center and how the electric mouse had squealed in absolute joy upon seeing that his best friend was okay and had proceeded to dive onto Ash who had happily embraced the Electric-type as happy tears were shed by both of them.

The bluenette continued to smile as she watched the teen and his yellow partner laugh and chase each other as they continued to make their way towards the park. It still amazed her at how much energy Ash could posses even after being in a coma for three weeks. "He has the stamina of a Rapidash doesn't he?" Misty commented with a small giggle. The bluenette turned to her right and was met with the smiling face of Misty, who was looking at Ash with adoration in her eyes. The coordinator simply smiled and nodded in response before turning back towards the raven-haired boy in question as small frown suddenly appearing on her face.

"It's definitely an improvement from before we arrived in Kanto." Dawn said quietly.

This got the gym leader's attention as she turned towards the younger girl in confusion "What do you mean? Has Ash been okay?" She asked with worry in her voice. Her worry only deepened when Dawn shook her head with a sad look in her eyes.

"Before all this happened, and when we were still in Sinnoh, he had started acting less like his usual self. He had less energy than usual and his smiles never seemed to be as full as they usually were. Hell he barely even concentrated when battling any trainers we came across. At first me and Brock thought that he was just off his game a bit or maybe even getting home sick but that wasn't the case. I had to practically beg him to tell me what was wrong with him before we left Pallet Town." At this point Dawn tore her gaze away from her friend and directed it towards the the older red-head, looking her in the eye "He's been having nightmares. The same nightmare, actually. Every night always the same one. How long he's been having it, he hasn't said, and he hasn't told me what the dreams are about either. And it's been getting worse." Dawn finished explaining as she turned back towards the subject of their conversation who was now being tackled to the ground by a laughing Pikachu, Misty following her gaze.

"So what do we do?" Misty asked quietly, trying to come up with some way to help her best friend.

"Not 'we', you." Dawn said, causing Misty to turn towards the young bluenette with a questioning look. "Misty, I may have only kown you for three weeks, but Ash has told me so much about you. Enough to know he trusts you with everything, even his own life." at this the coordinator turned towards Misty and gave her a warm and reassuring smile "If anyone can help him, it's you." She finished. Misty stared at the younger girl for a few moments before returning the smile and giving the coordinator a determined nod.

"Okay, let's catch up to the knucklehead and head back to the gym." She said as she ran off to catch up with Ash, Dawn hot on her tail.

"Right behind ya!" She exclaimed with a smile.

* * *

**[Unknown Location]**

In a dimly lit room, a lone figure stood in the center of a large circle drawn into the floor with white paint. Their hands firmly grasping the hilt of what appeared to be a long sword. The hilt was quite unique in its design. The bottom of the hilt had a small spherical orb with a silver finish and was decorated with thin golden lines spiraling around it, the handle was silver with a black spiral line made of leather surrounding it to provide a much better grip for the wielder, the cross guard at the top of the hilt had a gold trim surrounding the edges and was emerald-green in the center, it also widened slightly the further from the blade it was.

The blade, for lack of a better word, was magnificently designed. It stretched 5 1/2 feet in length and appeared to be razor sharp, it was decorated with small, thin carvings and runes that were also made of gold. The runes looked as if they formed words but in an ancient language. It was obvious that great care was taken to forge a weapon this detailed and judging by how it's current owner was handling it with such care, a weapon which carried great sentimentality and history.

Caine stood, not moving for some time before finally grasping the hilt more firmly. In the blink of an eye, he swung the sword from on direction to another with incredible speed and technique. Never faltering in his steps and swings as he continued to maneuver around the circled area without fail. The blade glided through the air as the wielder's eyes were filled with pure concentration. This continued on for several hours until Caine finally stopped to rest, taking deep breaths to gradually slow his heart down. It was at this point that a knock came from a large door behind him.

"Enter." He said in a low voice. The door opened to reveal a man with short-black hair that was spiked in several places and carrying a clipboard. He bowed respectfully to the sole occupant of the room before speaking. "Sir, I've received word from the Science Division. They say they're ready to begin with the first series of tests." The man said as he approached the center of the room.

Caine gave the slightest of nods and then proceeded to walk to the other side of the room towards a table that was made of varnished wood and colored in Ruby-Red. Upon the table sat a sword stand, varnished just like the table and was colored the same. With great care, he turned the sword on its side and then placed it on the stand. Caine then grabbed his cloak from a stand next to the table, turned towards the man, and the two exited the room.

After walking down a series of halls, Caine and the man had finally arrived at the Science Division. The entire division was white in color with black tiled floors and bright lights coming from the ceiling. After a few minutes of walking, the two finally came to a stop next to a window overlooking a large room. The room within was filled with various computer monitors, Tesla Coils, and scientists wearing what appeared to be white hazmat suits. In the center of the room, wired up to various machines, was a tube that was glowing dark blue with a purple aura surrounding it like a light mist. The tube was attached to a cylindrical machine with a conductor rod attached to the top of it.

Caine looked on at the device and allowed the smallest of smiles to appear on his face as he continued to watch. Then, without taking his gaze away from the room of scientists, spoke to the man next to him "What is the status of the siblings, Lieutenant Cross?" He asked calmly. The man named Cross quickly glanced down at his clipboard before looking back up to answer.

"Medical has informed me that they should be back on active duty within the next several days. The augmentations we've done to them have proven to be quite successful." He replied. Caine merely nodded in response, his attention focused solely on the room in front of him. Cross followed suit with a look of curiosity on his face.

Within the room, a scientist working on the machine noticed the two onlookers and gave them a quick nod to show they were ready to begin their tests. Caine nodded back and the scientist quickly walked to a computer near the far end of the room and began typing away on the keyboard. After several seconds, the Tesla Coils surrounding the room began to spark and flash with electricity before finally being drawn toward the conductor that was attached to the tube in the center of the room. Once the electricity connected with the conductor, a magnificent explosion of dark-blue and purple bolts began flying around the room almost hitting some of the scientists. And as Caine watched on, a single thought crossed his mind.

'_Soon, everything will be within our control.'_

* * *

**And that was chapter six ladies and gentlemen. What'd you think? Good? Bad? Whatever you thought, leave a review and let me know.**

**Again I'm sorry this took decades to get out but Like I said at the start of the chapter, life's just been a pain in the rear these past few months. My laptop's hard drive got completely destroyed (thankfully all my important stuff is on a USB) So I've had to borrow a family members laptop whenever I have a chance to which isn't that often. On top of that, a lot of stuff has been coming up that's kept me busy as all hell so I haven't had much time to write anything. Thankfully I hope to have my laptop fixed in the next month or so which should give me a little leeway on how often I'll be able to write. We'll just have to wait and see. Again I'm sorry about the delay. Thank you so much for your patience with waiting for this thing to be uploaded already.**

**And the final reason as I mentioned above, I've been trying to think of a bunch of different abilities to give the other aura users in the story. Not enough to make 'em OP as hell, but enough to make them more unique as characters and even add more to the story and create interesting scenarios for future fight scenes that may come up. Again you'll see more of these in the next update as for the next two chapters, Ash's training as an aura guardian finally begins.**

**Until then, live long and prosper and may the force be with you.**


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